Central team to visit Tamil Nadu to assess flood damage

A nine-member central team will begin its on-the-spot assessment on Thursday of the damages caused in Tamil Nadu due to recent rain and floods in the state.

The inter-ministerial team, headed by Union Home Ministry Joint Secretary TVSN Prasad, has been deputed on the directions of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi following a request by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.

The team will conduct inspections for two days in Chennai, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur and Cuddalore districts and submit their report to the Union Home Ministry.

The state Government, in its memorandum to the Centre, had on yesterday said that the total damages has been worked out to be around Rs 8,500 crore.

A Rs 940-crore package has been released by the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) for the rehabilitation work.

Of the nine member high-level inter-ministerial team headed by Union Home Ministry Joint Secretary TVSN Prasad, four members from Delhi and one from Bengaluru have reached the city and one more member is scheduled to arrive in a few hours.

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Two more representatives are stationed in Chennai itself. After their discussions with the state Revenue Department Principal Secretary Atulya Mishra and senior officials, they are scheduled to proceed on to their first hand assessment of the flood damages by splitting into different groups. Their consolidated report would help decide on the next course of action to help the state.