The Tamil Nadu government today sanctioned Rs 500 crore to provide immediate relief to victims for loss of life and shelter, besides compensation for destroyed crops and temporary restoration of damaged roads, lakes and tanks due to the recent continuous rains.
The state Cabinet which met today also sought the Centre’s help to the extent of Rs 1,607 crore from the National Calamity Relief Fund, for permanent repair works to be undertaken on roads and water bodies, besides payment of compensation for damaged crops.
The emergency meeting, chaired by chief minister M Karunanidhi, discussed the measures for flood relief on the basis of reports submitted by eight senior civil servants on the damage caused by the floods in nine districts.
Recently, the Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister M K Stalin said that 90,000 hectare of crops and 1,000 km of roads were damaged due to rain. An official press release said that 203 people died so far in rain-related incidents and the families of each of them were being paid Rs 2 lakh each through the district administration. The death toll among livestock was put at 5,068.
Around 8,000 huts were damaged in the floods and 40,000 partially damaged. It was also decided that Rs 5,000 would be paid as relief within a week to each fully damaged hut and Rs 2,500 to each partially damaged hut, said in the release. Around 320,000 houses were damaged in the floods.
