Chennai: Despite announcing Friday as the deadline to receive government flood relief, technical snag along with official apathy has further delayed the process, putting thousands of affected people in a tight spot.
The situation remains similar for Chennai and Kancheepuram districts with more than 40 per cent beneficiaries still awaiting the sum.
Nearly 100 persons protested at the Tambaram RDO this Monday demanding early disbursal of the money. A second protest is being planned at the same venue this Sunday.
Though revenue officials said the sum has been transferred to the banks, residents said their enquiries at the bank yielded a different response. “Why would we not issue the money if the funds are deposited?” said a bank official at Alandur.
Though revenue department statistics shows that a sizeable number of persons had received the sum, the ground reality states otherwise. Residents of many localities, including Tiruneermalai, Mudichur, K.K. Nagar, Saidapet, Tiruvanmiyur and Tondiarpet are running from pillar to post to get the relief.
According to Karuppusamy, ward 39 councillor in Tambaram, only 400 people in the locality have received the compensation out of 2000 applicants. A quarry worker from Tiruneermalai, where floodwater stagnated up to the first floor, said he was jobless for over two months.
“With most articles in my house damaged, we are still living in a relative’s house at Guindy.” he said. S. Leelavathi of Varadarajapuram said only 50 persons have benefited out of the 300 applicants. A resident of Munuswamy Salai at West K.K Nagar said none of the 72 inundated houses have received the relief. When questioned about the delay, we were asked to write to our Tahsildar office at Guindy,” said D. Kalaiselvi, a resident.
Further, around 25 per cent of residents from Saidapet and Jafferkhanpet are yet to receive the benefit.
The RDO, Tambaram, said banks took time to dispatch deposited funds. The blame game revolves round civic authorities and residents as a Kancheepuram lead bank manager said many residents have given improper bank details.
“We are collecting the proper details through Village Administrative Officer.
Besides this, technical snag in entering the account numbers could have been the reason,” he said assuring that it would be done in less than a week.
“How can everyone from the locality be wrong in giving the details? Isn’t it easy to get our bank details as we have given our mobile numbers during the survey?” questioned a resident at Tondiarpet, seeking anonymity.
