PM announces ex-gratia relief for TN floods victims, normalcy returning

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs. 2 lakhs each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the floods dues to heavy rains in Tamil Nadu.

However, an ex-gratia relief of Rs. 50,000 has also been sanctioned from for those who were seriously injured in the floods.

Meanwhile, Chennai did not experience heavy rainfall since Friday, and the flood waters are receding, while armed forces and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have rescued more than 28,000 people so far.

As the need for rescue has come down, 50 NDRF teams and 13 army columns deployed there are now pressed more into relief services rather than rescue operations.

The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) met on Saturday under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha to review the flood situation in Tamil Nadu, where the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) suggested that the state government should take steps to mark the HFL (High Flood Level) in all places to enable preparation of a future Mitigation and Preparedness plan.

Road connectivity to various places has been restored, while city bus service has become functional and power supply to more than 90% of the city has been restored, too.

The railways continue to operate special intra-city and outstation services, whereas normal service is expected to begin from Monday.

The work of restoration of the Chennai airport is on and it is expected to be completed in a day or two. Meanwhile, the operation of civilian flights from Arakonam Naval Air Base is continued.

However, four ferry flights parked at the Chennai airport departed for Delhi, Mumbai and Port Blair on Saturday, while one Cargo flight Singcargo B747 departed for Singapore via Bangalore.

In addition to this, four more flights took off from Chennai up to 5pm.

Seven truck loads of dry ready-to-eat food provided by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries have already reached Chennai, while 20 are on the way.

The railways supplied 2 lakh bottles of drinking water and 2 lakh more will be provided. Three naval ships carrying relief materials also have reached Tamil Nadu as well.

A massive cleaning operation is being undertaken to prevent epidemics and spread of diseases.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will send a high-level team to assess the situation in Tamil Nadu and to provide help. It was agreed that Post-Flood dos and don'ts prepared by NDMA would be widely publicised to educate people.