Chennai: The loss to the state and the people from the rain and flash floods this northeast monsoon season may have crossed a staggering Rs 50,000 crore already. And if the situation persists for the next few days, the total financial loss could escalate to a whopping Rs 1 lakh crore, a senior revenue official said.
The official went on to elaborate that the state’s official estimate of the rain damage crossed Rs 9,800 crore in the November rains itself even when such damage was restricted mostly to the state’s infrastructure with roads and causeways broken while the damage to citizens’ lives came mostly in the huts along the Cooum and Adyar rivers being washed away.
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But, just in the first two days of December, the deluge was a monumental disaster, inundating as it did houses, largely in south Chennai. If calculated, the losses suffered by the people due to the damage to their houses would be much higher. People in Mudichur, Tambaram, Saidapet, Jafferkhanpert and Velachery have lost their computers, cellphones besides cars and two-wheelers, while their TVs and refrigerators lay submerged, the official explained.
In just Tambaram 20,000 people suffered waterlogging after their basement and ground floor were flooded. Our revenue staff, who are now expediting relief, pointed out that at least 2,000 cars from Tambaram, Mudhichur, Lakhshmipuram, Manimangalam and Krishna Nagar have submerged. Similar is the situation with Velachery and Madipakkam, he said.
Villagers have lost their crops, cattle and their hutments in Tiruvallur, Cuddalore and Kanchee-puram districts, the official, now monitoring the relief work, told Deccan Chronicle.
The estimated revenue expenditure of Tamil Nadu for 2015 is around Rs 1,47,297 crores and the rain damage will push these expenses up to an alarming level, the official revealed.
Furthermore, industrial units, factories, hotels and shops have suffered severe waterlogging and this loss is yet to be evaluated. The state’s financial resources that may be spent first on relief and restoring the infrastructure would again run into crores of rupees, the official explained.
