O Panneerselvam visits Pulicat, offers promises and hope

Chennai: Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Tuesday visited Pulicat in Tiruvallur district along with his ministerial colleagues and officials and listened to the grievances of people severely affected by cyclone Vardha.

Representatives of people belonging to about three fishermen hamlets in Pulicat met the Chief Minister in Pulicat and handed over petitions explaining their sufferings and requests to restore normalcy and support their livelihood till such a time.

The Chief Minister promised to take action on their petitions and consoled them.
The area was severely battered by the cyclone and most of the roof tops of huts belonging to poor fishermen had been taken away by the storm.

Most of their belongings too were severely damaged or carried away by the strong winds. The affected people were moved to camps in Ponneri, where there were no sufficient facilities.

One of the kuppam leaders S.Durai said, “We were shifted to a camp last night, but no food was given and people had to go to bed after having just milk. Today food was served, but the quality was very bad and children were unable to eat it. Besides, there is a fear of contagious diseases due to the prevailing circumstances in the camp and the water stagnation”.

A woman belonging to the camp, Neelima, said “We have lost most of our belongings and left the rest in our houses. We are worried about the safety of the remaining belongings. The entire area where our houses are situated is under darkness and deserted”.

Children in the area are worried about their study materials including books which were torn or damp due to the rain and storms. An eighth standard girl Shanthi who was trying to dry her text books, said “I am unable to make them dry as the pages have stuck to each other and torn to pieces. It will be better if the government gave us text books”.

Many fishermen have lost their boats and fishing materials and said some of their colleagues who had ventured in the sea before the storm were not found.
They wanted the government to given them boats and fishing materials to restart their livelihood. Panneerselvam was accompanied by ministers D. Jayakumar, K. Pandiarajan, K.P. Anbalagan and Chief Secretary Ramamohana Rao.