Central team in Puducherry to assess drought

Puducherry: A nine member central team, comprising officials from agriculture, home and finance ministry, reached Puducherry on Sunday evening to assess the drought situation in Puducherry and Karaikal regions of the Union Territory. The Centre will release assistance to the State after analysing the ground report.
The team held a meeting with officials at Chief Secretariat here on Sunday.

The team will commence its visit to the Karaikal region on Monday beginning from Kottucherry area. The team will visit several affected areas in Karaikkal region and will have an interaction with the farmers and officials before leaving for Puducherry.In Puducherry region, the team will commence its visit from Tondamannatham area on March 7.

The state government had requested the Centre to sanction Rs 100 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund towards drought relief measures. Chief Minister V Narayanasamy had written a detailed letter to the centre requesting to urgently release assistance to the state.