Centre’s flood damage assessment team meets Jayalalithaa

The team also had a glimpse of the damages to infrastructures like roads and pipelines in Valasaravaakkam and Jafferkhanpet.

Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa on Monday said the “unprecedented” northeast monsoon has killed 470 people and almost a lakh livestock besides damaging crops in over 3.83 lakh hectares in the state.

A database of 1.4 million families has been prepared and, chief minister J. Jayalalithaa said, “The relief amount, as announced by me, will be given immediately to them”. The confirmation has been sent by SMS to the beneficiaries, sources said.

The government had provided relief of Rs 4 lakh each to families of the 245 victims and the rest will be covered in the coming days, she said.

The Central team of Inter-Ministerial officials, which earlier assessed the damage caused in the first three phases of rains, will visit the state again from tomorrow for a similar exercise.

In a statement here, the government said the central team will tour the flood affected areas on Tuesday and Wednesday and make their assessment. “The floods in Tamilnadu have already been declared as a calamity of severe nature”, she ponited out.

The team from the Centre praised the state govt for the rescue, relief and restoration… “Flood relief worth Rs. 700 crore will be deposited in the bank accounts of 14 lakh families today itself and the rest of the assistance would be disbursed by January 11”, the Chief Minister added.

She requested the Central team “to make an in-depth assessment of the damage suffered by the state and to submit its report to the Ministry of Home Affairs expeditiously”. “The State government was successful in preventing outbreak of any epidemic by timely measures such as chlorination and conducting health camps”.