Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin who met Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Chennai on Thursday and explained to him the damages caused by Cyclone Michaung and the relief work undertaken by the State Government wanted the release of at least Rs 2000 crore immediately from the Rs 5060 crore sought from the National Disaster Relief Fund for flood relief in the State.
Governor R N Ravi tweeted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was closely monitoring the situation and that he was releasing Rs 500 crore for flood mitigation and another Rs 450 crore for the State Disaster Relief Fund.
Rajnath Singh, who arrived in Chennai along with Union Minister of State for Fisheries L Murugan and the secretary of National Disaster Management Authority Kamal Kishore, made an aerial survey of the flood affected regions in Chennai and the districts of Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu and Thiruvallur by taking a helicopter ride along with State Minister Thangam Thennarasu and K K S S R Ramachandran and Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena.
Then the visiting Union Minister held a meeting at the Secretariat when he was told about the preventive steps taken by the State government ahead of the cyclone by involving Collectors of 12 districts and also the State’s immediate response after heavy rains lashed the districts of Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Chengalpattu on December 3 and 4.
The total rainfall of 109.41 cm in those two days was unprecedented and Poonamalee in Tiruvallur district received 32 cm and Perungudi in Chennai 29 cm, which were also very high compared to normal downpours.
The State government explained that to mitigate the suffering of the people, 20 State Ministers and over 50 IAS and IPS officers were on the ground providing relief to the affected and gave details of the damages caused to roads, bridges, buildings and other infrastructural facilities in the State.
The Union Minister was apprised of the damages suffered by MSME units in the State, affecting industrial production, the loss of livelihood by lakhs of small traders and the other setbacks to justify the need for a minimum of Rs 5060 crore as compensation, going by the primary estimates.
A memorandum demanding the interim relief was handed over to Rajnath Singh by the Chief Minister during the meeting.
Earlier, leader of the DMK in the Lok Sabha and the party’s treasurer T R Baalu personally handed over the memorandum seeking a compensation of Rs 5060 crore to the State to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at New Delhi. He said the Prime Minister was very considerate to the State’s demand and said that it was joint responsibility.
The Chief Minister also spoke to Narendra Modi in the morning and appraised him of the situation in the State while pressing for the release of the compensation. Stalin, who thanked Rajnath Singh for arranging helicopters to drop food packets to the marooned people, was personally present at Anakaputhur to distribute clothes and food to the flood-affected people there.
Meanwhile, the members of the Tamil Nadu IAS officers association decided to contribute a day's salary to the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund to help the people affected by the cyclone.
