The Hindu Business Line : TN seeks Rs 412 cr for flood relief

THE Tamil Nadu Government has asked the Centre for a total assistance of Rs 411.73 crore under the National Calamity Contingency Fund for relief operations in the flood-hit districts.

The Chief Minister, Ms Jayalalithaa, in a letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, requested that a Central team might be deputed to assess the flood damage in the last few weeks and make recommendations for assistance.

According to the letter, a text of which was released to the media, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Villupuram and the Nilgiris have received `far above normal' rainfall in October resulting in widespread flood and inundation.

District officials have organised relief work and efforts are on to provide relief to the affected and restore road traffic and repair the tanks and canals that have been breached.

The floods, which have followed three years of drought, have hit the farmers in the Cauvery delta. While they had hoped to raise a normal crop this year, they find their fields flooded within 30 - 45 days of cultivation.

Though the State Government has taken up relief operations on a war footing, substantial support is necessary, the letter said. The State's Calamity Relief Fund is exhausted and substantial allocation is needed from the National Calamity Contingency Fund.

The Government has prepared a detailed memorandum that sets out the assistance needed, based on a study by two teams that visited the districts affected by floods.

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