Cyclone Gaja: Tamil Nadu seeks Rs. 15,000 Crore help from Centre
NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami sought an assistance of Rs. 15,000 crore from the Centre for dealing with the destruction caused by cyclone Gaja in the state during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.
The cyclone that created havoc in Tamil Nadu’s 12 Cauvery delta districts killed 63 people and left hundreds homeless.
Mr Palaniswami requested the Prime Minister to send a team of Central government functionaries to assess the damage from the cyclone that had hit the coast of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry last Friday gusting with the wind speed of 120 kmph.
“I have submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister detailing the extent of the damage caused by the cyclone,””Palaniswami told reporters in Delhi.
He said he had also urged Modi to depute a central team to assess the damage, besides seeking an immediate release of nearly Rs. 1500 crore towards “temporary renovation” activities. A Central team is expected to visit Tamil Nadu next week, sources said.
The state government released Rs. 1,000 crore to carry out relief and rehabilitation work, but said that it would require more help from the Union Government to deal with the crisis.
Residents of several villages in districts such as Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Pudukottai were massively affected during the cyclone. Thousands of acres of crops have been destroyed in these districts, pushing the farmers into distress.
The power supply in many parts of the state had been disrupted. As per the estimates of the Tamil Nadu government, a total of 86, 702 electric poles, 841 distribution transformers and 201 electric sub stations are affected in the cyclone.
