TN roads hit by Cyclone Gaja to get Rs 200.53 cr facelift: CM

Repair of roads and bridges affected due to cyclone Gaja in districts including Nagappattinam and Tiruvarur will be taken up at a cost of Rs 200.53 crore, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami announced Wednesday.

Making a statement in the State Assembly, Palaniswami said roads and bridges were badly hit due to the last year's cyclone that ravaged several districts.

Considering this, repair of roads and bridges will be taken up in Nagappattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, and Pudukottai districts, he said.

Also, areas that were hit -falling under Kodaikkanal region- in Dindigul district will also be covered, he added.

As many as 10,000 checkdams will be built in villages for purposes including use for irrigation at a cost of Rs 312 crore.

The rural roads upgradation scheme, launched in 2015-16 by former Chief Minsiter J Jayalalithaa, will have an allocation of Rs 1,200 crore this year too as in 2018-19.

Under the plan, 5,000 km long rural roads will be upgraded, he said.

Initiatives for augmenting basic amenities including building overhead water tanks and sinking borewells in rural regions will be taken up at a cost of Rs 183.38 crore.

Palaniswami also announced that the Rs 11,000 crore target of loan disbursal for Women Self Help Groups during 2018-19 was surpassed and Rs 11,449 crore loan has been given through banks, he said.

For the current fiscal, a target of Rs 12,500 crore has been set for aiding the self-help groups, he said.

He also announced three new law colleges in Tamil Nadu in view of increasing applications every year from aspirants and to help students from backward communities -socially and economically- get legal education.

The colleges will be set up at a total cost of Rs 9.52 crore and will begin functioning from 2019-20 academic year.

"A Special Officer will be appointed for every college to immediately start preliminary work," he said.