Stalin also rushed State PWD Minister E V Velu to Kerala to hand over the cheque of Rs 5 crore to Chief Minister Pinayari Vijayan at the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
The relief and rescue team comprising medical professionals and 20 fire service and 20 State Disaster Relief Force personnel from the State has already landed in Kerala with their paraphernalia to join the operations being carried out in the Wayanad. It now emerges that one of the villages has disappeared without a trace, and that among the deceased there have been more people from Tamil Nadu.
The death of 52-year-old Kalyankumar, who hailed from Serangode 1 village of Pandalur taluk in the Nilgiris, was confirmed yesterday and the relief to his family was announced on Wednesday. He was working in Suralmalai in Wayanad when heavy rains caused landslides there.
The Congress party has formed a rescue team comprising 80 party workers in the Nilgiris. Headed by the district Congress president and Ooty MLA, R Ganesh, the team was ready to go to the flood affected regions in Kerala, TNCC president K Selvaganapathy said.
He also announced that Rs one crore would be given away as relief to the Kerala government by the TNCC and that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi would hand over the cheque.
Stalin had already expressed concern over the natural disaster taking a heavy toll in Wayanad district that shares a border with the Nilgiris, facilitating inter-state trade and movement of people. Since many people from the Nilgiris go to Wayanad on work and other activities, some fear that there could be more casualties of people from Tamil Nadu.