Tamil Nadu - Chennai

State seeks Rs.1,963 cr. as flood relief

CHENNAI: The State has sought Rs.1,963 crore from the Centre for taking up relief measures in areas affected by the latest spell of rain.

On Monday, the government submitted a memorandum to the Centre. A supplementary memorandum is also under preparation, according to an official in the Revenue Department.

Around 7.9 lakh hectares was submerged and there were 177 casualties. About 39.4 lakh people were affected and 24.5 lakh people evacuated. As many as 2,976 heads of cattle perished. The maximum number of relief camps opened was nearly 3,900 and approximately 69.6 lakh food packets were distributed.

Giving details of the assistance sought for major works, the official said Rs.585 crore had been sought for restoring roads under the control of the State Highways Department; Rs.274 crore for roads under municipal areas; Rs.183 crore for rural roads and Rs.43 crore for roads in town panchayats.

For repair works on culverts, bridges and causeways, the authorities sought Rs.57 crore. For repairing tanks and irrigation channels, Rs.157 crore was requested. To set right the drinking water supply systems, around Rs.93 crore was required besides Rs.35 crore for public buildings and Rs.86.5 crore for fisheries. The Chennai Corporation has sought Rs.147.5 crore for repair works in the city.

Asked when a Central team was expected to visit the State, the official said though there was no communication yet, an announcement was expected soon.

As for the damage suffered by the farm sector, an official of the State Agriculture Department said about paddy crop on 5 lakh hectares and horticulture crops one lakh hectares were submerged. Besides, 1.75 lakh hectares under other crops were badly affected. Over 50 per cent of the submerged crops were badly damaged. A detailed assessment of submerged crops was still under way.

In Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Thanjavur districts, crops of samba and thaladi on about four lakh hectares were submerged. While Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts accounted for around 1.34 lakh hectares each, the extent of damaged areas in Thanjavur district was 1.26 lakh hectares where samba was being raised.

Among other districts severely hit by the rain spell was Cuddalore, where standing paddy crop on about 58,750 hectares was submerged.

In Tiruchi, the extent of the affected areas was 20,594 hectares; in Pudukottai, 10,200 hectares; in Tiruvallur, 10,130 hectares; in Kancheepuram and Villupuram districts, 3,700 hectares each and in Ariyalur and Karur districts, about 1,500 hectares each.

The official said the affected paddy in a majority of areas was more than 45 days old. It would be difficult to retrieve the submerged crops.

The Revenue Department official said Rs.186 crore was sought for damaged houses and crops.

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