Floods: Jaitley, Mishra to visit Chennai this weekend

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu has apprised the Prime Minister over the floods and relief work in Chennai and his colleagues Arun Jaitley and Kalraj Mishra have said they would visit the city this weekend to take steps to revive affected industrial units.
Naidu had visited the flood affected areas of Chennai on December 12 and 13 and held discussions with Chief Minister Jayalalithaa over the floods, losses and relief work.
"After his return from Chennai, Naidu met the Prime Minister and appraised him about the relief and rehabilitation measures carried out to mitigate the suffering of people.
"He brought to the notice of the PM about the heavy damages suffered by the industrial sector most notably the MSME and Small Scale Industries," a statement from the minister's office said today.

Naidu also met Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley and Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises, Kalraj Mishra and briefed them about the losses suffered by industrial sector notably the MSME and Small Scale Industries due to unprecedented heavy rains and floods in Chennai as well as other neighbouring areas.
"Both the Ministers have promised to visit Chennai over the coming weekend and take necessary steps for early revival of MSME and SSI industries," it said.

The Ambattur industrial cluster, the largest MSME and SSI cluster in Tamil Nadu, has also suffered huge damage. There has been extensive damage to machineries, raw materials, finished products, installations and also building exteriors.

Naidu suggested the ministers to study the situation and take early steps for survey and settlement of insurance claims for the damages suffered by the industry.
"Other relief measures such as restructuring of loans, extending soft loans with low interest rates etc should also be considered in order to come out of the situation," it said.
In view of representations during his visit that a cause for flooding was due to encroachments in riverbeds like Adyar, he told Modi that long-term measures like removal of encroachments, alternate housing for poor had to be taken up.
"Naidu informed the Prime Minister that he had assured the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister of maximum support under the Housing for All programme after receiving a proposal," the statement added.