Our Bureau

Chennai , Nov. 3

THE Tamil Nadu Government has asked the Centre to grant Rs 1,120 crore for flood relief and restoration work following the recent spell of heavy rains.

The Chief Minister, Ms Jayalalithaa, in a letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, requested him to depute officials to assess and recommend assistance under the National Calamity Contingency Fund.

According to a text of the letter released to the press, the State Government has assessed the damage and cost of undertaking the relief and restoration work. It has prepared a detailed memorandum and requested a total assistance of Rs 1,120 crore.

The Government has taken up immediate relief measures and sanctioned Rs 130 crore for roads, irrigation systems, tanks and buildings. The State's Calamity Relief Fund is exhausted and it would be difficult to tackle the situation without substantial allocation from the Central funds.

Heavy torrential rains battered Tamil Nadu in the last fortnight of October and floods affected many districts. Mettur Dam on the Cauvery received heavy inflows (2.24 lakh cusecs) unmatched since 1961. The entire surplus had to be released because the dam was filled to capacity and this flooded the Cauvery districts where there was heavy rainfall.

Chennai too received over 37 cm of rains on October 26 and 27, and an additional 18.7 cm on October 28. This heavy and intense downpour caused severe flooding in the city.

This has happened at a critical juncture for Tamil Nadu, which is just recovering from the devastation caused by the tsunami (December 26, 2004). The rains and floods have caused severe damage to houses, roads, bridges, tanks and irrigation systems and other infrastructure and crops, the letter said.

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