Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday undertook an aerial survey of flood-hit Chennai and its neighbourhoods and also met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin at he Secretariat to assure all assistance from the Centre.
Pointing out that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had released the second instalment of its share of ₹450 crore to Tamil Nadu’s State Disaster Relief Fund, Singh told journalists the Centre had also sanctioned ₹500 crore for urban flood management activities in Chennai, which was hit by the impact of Cyclone Michaung.
“I was directed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to monitor the situation in Tamil Nadu take appropriate measures. All Central agencies, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, India Meteorological Department, and the National Disaster Response Force, are doing the best they can to mitigate the ongoing crisis,” he said.
"State & Centre join hands to bring effective response to situation"
“The Government of India and the State Government are together putting up an effective response to the situation and will hopefully improve the response further to address any gaps or weaknesses, wherever present. I want to assure the people of Tamil Nadu on behalf of the Prime Minister that the Government of India was committed to their well-being,” Singh said
Stalin's letter to PM
Thanking the Defence Minister, the Chief Minister pointed out he had written to Modi seeking ₹ 5,060 crore as interim relief to repair the damages caused by the floods and provide compensation to the affected people. He presented a letter detailing the demands of the State government to Singh.
The Chief Minister told journalists the situation was returning to normalcy. All efforts were being taken on a war-footing by elected representatives, officials and volunteers. Loss of lives and large-scale damage were largely avoided despite the unprecedented rains, due to the precautionary measures taken by the State Government, Stalin said.
