Declare floods in Tamil Nadu national calamity: AIADMK

AIADMK member M. Thambidurai on Thursday demanded that floods in the wake of heavy rains in Tamil Nadu should be declared a national calamity.

Raising the issue after question hour in the Lok Sabha, Thambidurai, who is also the Deputy Speaker, said Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for declaration of floods in several districts of Tamil Nadu as a national calamity.

"Unless it is declared a national calamity, we cannot get more assistance," Thambidurai said.

Heavy rains in Chennai, Kanchipuram, Cuddalore and Thiruvallur districts of Tamil Nadu for the past one month resulted in floods, killing over 325 people and destroying assets worth several thousand crores of rupees.

Jayalalithaa on Wednesday had urged Modi to declare as the floods a national calamity and suggested schemes to assist the affected families.