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As many as 31 people have lost their lives in the four districts in Tamil Nadu due to heavy rainfall, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on December 22.
Also read: Tamil Nadu rains | Climate action needs an updated official vocabulary
Extending her condolences to the bereaved family members, Ms. Sitharaman, who spoke in Tamil, said, “The amount of rainfall that should have occurred for the whole year has been received in a single day. For example, if the total amount of rainfall is 50 cm in a place like Tuticorin, it has received the entire amount of rainfall in one single day.”
Ms. Sitharaman said the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai has ultra-modern equipment including three dopplers and had forecast on December 12 itself that there would be heavy rainfall in the four districts - Tenkasi, Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin on December 17.
She was responding to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s charge that the India Meteorological Department had failed to issue timely warnings about the extreme rainfall that battered four southern districts and it had issued a red alert two days after the downpour began.
Taking a dig at Stalin, Ms. Sitharaman said when such a massive disaster was unfolding in Tamil Nadu, the Chief Minister was in Delhi with the INDI Alliance.
Maintaining that she came to know of the heavy rains through her party men and others on December 17, Sitharaman said on December 18 afternoon she took up the matter with the Union Home Ministry which subsequently despatched personnel from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to the districts of Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi and Kanyakumari.
On the funds released to Tamil Nadu, the Union Minister said every year the State Disaster Response Force receives funds from the NDRF.
“At the beginning of this financial year [April 2023], the opening balance of Tamil Nadu’s SDRF was ₹813.15 crore. Of the total ₹900 crore allocated to TN, the first installment of ₹450 crore was already released. The second installment of ₹450 crore was also released before the cyclone. So, we have released the entire fund earmarked for this year ₹900 crore, to Tamil Nadu,” she noted.
Regarding the impact of rainfall in the region, she said until December 21, 42,290 people were rescued and unfortunately 31 people lost their lives despite the rescue and relief works.
Around 800 train passengers who were stranded at the Srivaikuntam railway station in Thoothukudi district were accommodated in a nearby school after being safely rescued with the coordination from all the agencies.
Nearly 200 rail services were affected in the region, she said adding that the Home Ministry was monitoring the situation round the clock, ever since the rains began.
The Air Force and Navy had deployed nine helicopters to rescue marooned people while the Coast Guard undertook 11 sorties.
Through the National Disaster Response Force, Army, Navy, and Coast Guard 5,049 people were rescued till December 21, she said.
Ms. Sitharaman claimed that ahead of the visit by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and other officials from the State government, personnel from the Central agencies reached the affected areas and commenced the rescue operations.
Special camps for insurance claim settlement
Ms. Sitharaman said a special camp was organised in Chennai for expeditious settlement of claims by general insurance companies in areas impacted by cyclone Michaung and similar efforts would be made in four districts of Tamil Nadu affected by excessive rains and flood.
Once the water in these districts recedes, she said, special camps by insurance companies would be organised to settle claims caused due to flood.
Under the aegis of General Insurance Council of India, 19 insurers organised a special camp on December 20-21 at Ambattur Industrial Estate in Chennai for expeditious settlement of claims related to the cyclone.
She further said spot settlements were made after survey of the affected industrial units.
A total of 73,574 hectares of agriculture crop area and 35,796 hectares of horticulture area have been affected due to heavy rainfall during December 16-19.
Why was Chennai so badly flooded? | Cyclone Michaung
With regard to rescue operation, she said a total of 87 sorties have been completed by various forces in the flood-affected areas so far.
She said further assistance by the Centre would be done based on the assessment of Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).
The IMCT departed to flood-affected districts on December 19.
