Jayalalithaa seeks Rs.10,250 crore for flood victims

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Sunday urged the central government to sanction Rs.10,250 crore towards rehabilitation of the flood affected in the state.

Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poeverty Alleviation M. Venkaiah Naidu met Jayalalithaa at the state secretariat.

At the meeting, Jayalalithaa highlighted certain critical areas with which the Naidu's ministry is directly connected in the rehabilitation of the flood victims, a government release said.

Later, speaking to reporters, Naidu said the central government would provide the necessary support to the state while stressing that encroachments along the river banks have to be removed.

Jayalalithaa told Naidu that about 50,000 families living along the banks of the city's waterways were affected by the floods and they have to be provided alternate accommodation.

According to her, the total expenditure will be around Rs.5,000 crore, and requested Naidu to provide financial aid as special grant for a massive housing project considering the magnitude of the devastation.

Jayalalithaa also sought a special package of Rs.750 crore to build a further 50,000 tenements for families living in slums in Chennai Metropolitan Area who lost their huts in the heavy rains.

Citing the extensive damage to roads, drinking water, sewerage and storm water drainage systems, Jayalalithaa urged the urban development ministry to grant a special package of Rs.4,500 crore for the flood affected urban local bodies in Tamil Nadu.

On November 23, Jayalalithaa sent a memorandum to Modi asking for central funding of Rs.8,481 crore towards flood relief and an immediate relief of Rs.2,000 crore.

Subsequently, a central government official team surveyed the flood damage.

Even after the team's visit, heavy rains - the worst in a century - battered Chennai and Kanchipuram, Cuddalore and Thiruvallur districts resulting in unprecedented floods.

The rains and floods killed 347 people since October 1, and 17.64 lakh people were rescued and housed in relief centres.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here, he announced a relief of Rs.1,000 crore in addition to the earlier Rs.940 crore.

According to Jayalalithaa, the Rs.940 crore included Rs.133.79 crore of arrears from 2014-15 towards the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and Rs.254.62 crore towards the second instalment of SDRF for the current fiscal.