Jayalalithaa made this request to M. Venkaiah Naidu when he called on her Sunday morning.
Tamil Nadu government
Chennai: The state government requested the Union urban development ministry to grant a special package of Rs 4,500 crore to take up restoration works in urban local bodies severely affected by last week’s torrential rains.
Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa made this request to Union urban development minister M. Venkaiah Naidu when he called on her Sunday morning. Naidu is here on a two-day visit to get a first-hand account of the impact of floods.
Drawing the minister's attention to the extensive damage caused to the roads, drinking water supply and sewerage and storm water drainage systems in urban local bodies, Jayalalithaa said, “The urban local bodies, including Chennai Corporation would require substantial assistance for restoration.”
Preliminary estimates of the requirement exceed Rs 4,500 crore, Jayalalithaa was quoted as saying, in a release issued by the state government. Observing that the local bodies cannot rely on “own source of tax revenue” for taking up restoration work, she urged Naidu to grant Rs 4,500 crore as a special package of assistance.
Jayalalithaa pointed out that the slum dwellers living on the bank of Adyar, Cooum and Buckingham Canal have lost homes and belongings in the floods. They are currently housed in relief centres. Rehabilitating them is the highest priority of the government, the release said. A special project to construct alternative housing for the 50,000 families who lost their houses was being prepared and it requires Rs 5,000 crore, Jayalalithaa said, requesting the ministry to provide financial assistance by way of special grant for the “massive” housing project as a special scheme considering the magnitude of the devastation.
She also urged the minister to grant a special package of Rs 750 crore to construct 50,000 tenements under the Central government’s ‘Housing for All’ scheme for people who lost their huts in the rain.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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