As many as 48 persons have died in rain-related incidents in Tamil Nadu even as the MeT office forecasts another spell of heavy showers next week following formation of a new trough of low pressure. In Cuddalore alone, 31 people have died since Sunday. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has constituted a team consisting of six senior Ministers of her Cabinet to supervise the rescue and relief operations in the district.
Massive relief operations have been launched all over Cuiddalore district which suffered the most in the heavy rains and winds which hit the Tamil Nadu coast as a fallout of the depression in the Bay of Bengal. Senior Government secretary Gagan Singh Bedi is camping in Cuddalore since Sunday to lead the rescue operations. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had announced a solatium of Rs4 lakh each to the next of kin of the victims. She also released a relief package of Rs76 lakh to the families which suffered losses due to the rain and the floods. “I have directed to pay a sum of Rs4 lakh each to the families of persons who died in these unfortunate incidents from the Disaster Relief Fund,” Jayalalithaa said in a statement on Wednesday.
Dr Sharmila PA (General) to the District Collector said the team of Ministers and officials from Chennai toured the flood-affected areas to take stock of the situation and to assess the losses suffered by the people. “The relief amount declared by the Chief Minister has been handed over to relations of the 26 victims who lost their lives in the flood. The relief amount for the remaining families would be handed over either by late evening or by tomorrow morning,” said Sharmila. Access to many villages has been lost because of the washing away of bridges and roads in the flash floods. Maintenance and reconstruction works are in full swing as the Chief Minister is monitoring the situation on an hourly basis,” said one of the administration officials from Cuddalore.
Efforts are also on to restore power supply which was affected in the districts of Cuddalore and Nagapattinam. Hectares of paddy and sugarcane fields have been flooded in Cuddalore district alone. “We think more than 4,000 hectares of paddy and sugarcane fields have been submerged in water. The quantum of loss would be known only after the water is drained out,” said Ms Sharmila.
Kattumannarkiol Kannan, a farmer leader from the district of Cuddalore said the heavy rain has destroyed 35,000 hectares of paddy and sugarcane fields and banana fields in the district.
“Cuddalore received 35 cm rain while Neyveli got 45 cm on a single day. This is a disturbing news as this is for the first time in the recent times we see rains of this magnitude on a single day," said Kannan.