PM tracks Chennai floods situation on hourly basis

MPs set aside differences to discuss natural disaster in both Houses of Parliament

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took stock of the flood situation in Tamil Nadu and discussed it with his cabinet colleagues, including the ministers of Home, Finance and Defence.

“I want to inform the House that today morning the Prime Minister met the Home Minister, Finance Minister and myself and discussed the flood conditions in Tamil Nadu. We exchanged information on the situation,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said in the Lok Sabha. Earlier, Modi spoke to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and assured her all possible support and cooperation from the Centre, he added.

Parliament devoted much of its time on Wednesday to discuss the flood situation in several parts of the country, particularly in Tamil Nadu. However, the government rejected a suggestion from the Opposition that an all-party team be sent to Tamil Nadu to assess the damage and oversee disaster relief. It said an already hard pressed administration and Indian Army shouldn’t be distracted from the task at hand of rescuing stranded people.

Naidu said the PM was monitoring the situation on an hourly basis. The PM met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, along with senior officials to take stock of the situation.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) chief O P Singh said 22 teams with 80 boats have reached Chennai for rescue operations.

He said another 600 personnel were on their way. The Army, Air Force and Navy are shouldering the burden of relief and rescue operations. With the Chennai Airport flooded, the Indian Air Force has positioned four Mi-17 helicopters to airdrop food, medicines and water in Chennai. Two C-17 military transport aircraft with NDRF teams left Delhi’s Palam Airport and landed in Tirupati and an AC-130J aircraft has been deployed for reconnaissance missions.

 

The Centre, which had released assistance of Rs 933 crore in end-November against Tamil Nadu’s demand for Rs 2,000 crore, on Wednesday promised further assistance. An inter-ministerial team is already in Chennai for the past one week to assess the situation.

At 12.30 pm, Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha held a meeting of top officials. Tamil Nadu chief secretary joined the meeting via video conferencing. Indian Meteorological Department  officials apprised the meeting that rains will continue to pound Chennai and adjoining areas for three more days and the next 48 hours were crucial. National Disaster Relief Fund teams reached Chennai to help in rescue and rehabilitation. In the evening, the Home and Defence Ministers held another meeting to take stock of the situation.

Food Ministry officials in New Delhi said they had sufficient stocks in and around Chennai to provide immediate relief.

Power minister Piyush Goyal dispatched a team of Power Grid officials to Chennai to restore full power supply.

The two Houses of Parliament held discussions on the flood situation in Chennai. Several MPs, including union ministers Naidu and Santosh Gangwar, said they have their children and close relatives stranded in Chennai. Naidu told the House his daughter and grand-daughter have sent to him pictures of Chennai and he is “moved by plight of ordinary people there”. Rajya Sabha members offered their MP Local Area Development funds to help flood victims. State chief ministers, including Delhi’s Arvind Kerjiwal, Bihar’s Nitish Kumar and Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah, also offered assistance to the Tamil Nadu government.