New Delhi

State seeks release of Rs.1,000 cr. as flood relief

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Thursday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately release Rs.1,000 crore to the State for carrying out relief work in areas affected by flood and rain.

As many as 177 persons lost their lives and crops on 7.9 lakh hectares were lost. Briefing mediapersons, the Chief Minister said Dr. Singh promised to take early action on the issue and other demands raised by him. They include release of additional compensation for revenue loss due to implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT); reimbursement of Rs.7,000 crore towards waiver of cooperative loans given by the State government even before the Centre announced such a scheme; release of adequate funds for the proposed desalination projects near Chennai; release of Rs.708 crore for three projects identified under the national rivers integration project and necessary assistance for sea erosion prevention scheme.

Mr. Karunanidhi told the Prime Minister firmly that all railway projects being implemented in the State should be wholly funded by the Centre and the request by the Railways for sharing 50 per cent of project cost by the State government could not be met.

He ruled out the possibility of re-induction of his grand nephew Dayanidhi Maran in the Union Cabinet in view of the rapprochement between the Karunanidhi and Maran families. “We will think about it only after the Lok Sabha poll,” he said. Asked whether he would seek a probe into the spectrum allotment vis-À-vis DMK representative in the Union Cabinet, Communication Minister A. Raja, he said it was a “closed chapter.”

On Tamil Nadu’s Hogenakkal water project, he said it was neither legally nor morally right for Karnataka to object to it after having signed an agreement earlier.

Mr. Karunanidhi said he had urged both Dr. Singh and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to place one out of four proposed commando units of the National Security Guards in Chennai.

He ruled out the possibility of retrieving Kachatheevu, which was handed over to Sri Lanka in the early 1970s by India, as it involved international legal issues. He denied Naval chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta’s comment that the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project might pave way for the infiltration of militants into India.

Later, after Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram called on him to discuss among other things the damage caused by floods in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Karunanidhi said a high-level Central team would visit the State in two or three days to assess the damage and work out the quantum of relief.

He refused to answer a question on his meeting with National Security Advisor M.K Narayanan.

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