The Union finance minister is expected to review the damage caused by the floods and also visit the affected areas for an assessment.
Thoothukudi inundated by continuous heavy rainfall. (Screengrab)
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will visit the flood-ravaged southern district of Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, 26 December, and will also review the situation with the district collector.
Normalcy is gradually returning in this coastal district with the state administration and civic authorities involved in relief and restoration work.
Those who have been temporarily lodged in relief camps have started returning to their houses to clear the sludge and litter deposited by the floods caused due to unprecedented rain on 17 and 18 December, in the district, an official said.
Conservancy workers are already engaged in removing waste and debris on roads and residential areas. Portions of the Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur and Thoothukudi-Tiruchendur highways that got breached are being restored.
A bridge near Antoniyarpuram on the Thoothukudi-Palayamkottai National Highway was breached during the extreme rainfall, which triggered floods while the bridges at Eral and Attur on the Thoothukudi-Tiruchendur road have also been severely damaged.
Power supply has completely been restored in nearly 250 villages that had remained without electricity for about five days, a source said.
According to a release in Chennai, the Union finance minister would review the damage caused due to floods with the district collector and also visit the affected areas for an assessment.
There has been a war of words between Nirmala Sitharaman and the DMK government over relief funds, declaring the floods as a “natural calamity”, and the IMD predictions.
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said on Friday that the Union minister insulted the people of Tamil Nadu, who were in the grip of a calamity, by “discourteously declining” to provide funds, as requested by Chief Minister MK Stalin.
He expressed disappointment that Sitharaman had not called for the briefing to announce the disbursal of funds for Tamil Nadu. “Why give an interview to say ‘no funds’?” he asked.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the rains could not be declared a national calamity. Her stance was criticised by DMK which insisted that she failed to take into account the impact of the calamity, concerns and sufferings of the affected people.
Discrediting the claims of the state government, Sitharaman said the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai had ultra-modern equipment including three dopplers and had forecast on 12 December itself that there would be heavy rainfall in the four districts.
When such a massive disaster was taking place in Tamil Nadu, the chief minister was in Delhi with the INDIA bloc, she said.
Earlier in the day, Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan visited flood-affected areas in Tirunelveli district that was also impacted due to torrential rains and interacted with the local residents. She distributed relief to the beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, state Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin visited Tirunelveli district and distributed solatium to the tune of ₹58.14 lakh to the families who lost their kin and farmers whose cattle died due to rains.
He visited the flood-hit areas in the Eral town panchayat and consoled the people. Also, he distributed relief to the people.
State Public Works and Highways Minister EV Velu visited Srivaikuntam and Alwarthirunagari for the eighth day on Monday, and oversaw the work to restore the roads, a release said.
During the meeting with Prime Minister Modi on 19 December, Chief Minister MK Stalin urged him to release ₹2,000 crore from the National Disaster Relief Fund to bolster the efforts for livelihood support and repair of public infrastructure damaged by flooding.
Stalin on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to him over the phone in connection with floods in Tamil Nadu and he sought immediate financial support from the Union government.
Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on Friday said that such heavy rains were unprecedented and there was nothing much the government could do to prevent the flooding.
“More than 1.5 lakh cusecs of water were flowing every day from the Thamirabarani river and several tanks also got breached. The amount of water was not containable and that caused this devastation,” said Kanimozhi.
“She said that the first concern of the officials was to shift people to safer places but they were not cooperating immediately saying that the water never reached their area even in their grandfather’s time,” she added.
“Every time I visit people, they are saying that even in their grandfather’s days water has never come here,” she said adding that the situation was so bad.
“The culverts and canals were rendered inefficient due to the massive deluge and as a result, the water continued to stagnate in many places,” Shiv Das Meena said.
Describing the rains in Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli districts as “historic”, the chief secretary said about 150 cm rain was received in 40 hours in an area of 8,500 sq km in these two districts.
“This is a huge quantum…the water naturally has to drain to the sea,” he said and added efforts were on to bale out the water.
Nearly 40 lakh people in the Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts were badly hit by the record rains while Srivaikuntam and villages near Tiruchendur suffered great damage due to flooding in the Thamirabarani river.
The Thoothukudi government hospital is among the several places where water is stagnating. “A total of 64 Primary Health centres and 261 health sub-centres have been affected due to rains in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi and Kanyakumari districts,” Health Minister Ma Subramanian said after inspecting the health facilities.
(With PTI inputs)
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