Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday held discussions with the Central team deputed to the state for assessing the damage caused by Cyclone Gaja in the delta districts of Tamil Nadu.
He was assisted by senior ministers D. Jayakumar, C. Ve. Shanmugam and R.B. Udayakumar, besides senior officials including Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan and Commissioner of Revenue Administration and Disaster Management Dr K. Satyagopal.
The Central team, led by Daniel E. Richard, a senior official in the Union home ministry, later flew to Tiruchy from where it travelled by SUVs across the Gaja-hit areas of Pudukottai and Thanjavur, gathering first-hand reports from local officials and also some victims.
Health minister Dr C. Vijayabaskar and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha Thambidurai, along with Dr Satyagopal and team helped the Central officials in their task.
The team will tour Tiruvarur on Sunday, the worst-hit Nagapattinam-Vedaranyam region on Monday forenoon before moving on to Karaikal later in the day.
The team will return for a final round of discussions with Chief Minister Palaniswami and state officials on Tuesday before flying back to New Delhi for presenting its report.
Briefing reporters after the CM’s meeting with the Central team at Chennai Secretariat, Dr Satyagopal said all the relevant department secretaries and other officials were involved in the extensive briefing to the Central officials. “We made a power-point presentation”, senior the senior IAS officer. While five members of the Central team had arrived from Delhi on Friday, two others who were stationed here, joined them. The officers belong to relevant Ministries such as finance, power and agriculture. During his meeting with PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi Thursday, CM Palaniswami had sought about Rs 15,000 crore as Central assistance towards relief and rehabilitation efforts in the 10 cyclone-hit districts of TN. He also requested the PM to depute a Central team to assess the damage. Cyclone ‘Gaja’ had crossed Tamil Nadu coast early on November 16 between Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam, leaving behind a trail of destruction in the delta districts. The cyclone claimed 63 lives, with Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Pudukottai being the worst affected districts.
