Cyclone Gaza: Railway Ministry extends free transportation of relief material to affected areas

Ministry of Railways has decided to extend free transportation of relief material to affected areas by 15 days from January 8 in solidarity with the people of Tamil Nadu affected by Cyclone 'Gaja'.

"In solidarity with the people of Tamil Nadu affected by Cyclone 'Gaja', Railways has decided to extend the free transportation of relief material to affected areas by 15 days," Railway Minister Piyush Goyal wrote on his Twitter handle on Wednesday.

A letter issued by the Ministry stressed that the consignor for such booking shall only be the District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner in whose jurisdiction the dispatching and receiving station is situated.

Earlier on December 31, the High-Level Committee (HLC) chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh approved additional assistance of Rs 1,146.12 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to Tamil Nadu, which was affected by cyclone 'Gaja' recently.

The Central government had also released assistance of Rs 353.70 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) as an interim relief to the state on December 3.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Dr Rajiv Kumar are the members of the HLC.

At least 46 people were killed after the Cyclone 'Gaja' hit 12 districts of Tamil Nadu and parts of Andhra Pradesh in November 2018. The storm also caused widespread damage to property and livestock.