Cyclone Fengal: TN officials apprise central team of crop, infra damage

TIRUCHY: An inter-ministerial team deputed by the Union government visited the Fengal-ravaged Villupuram district and parts of Kallakurichi district on Saturday and made an on-the-spot assessment of the devastation caused by the cyclone.

The seven-member team, headed by Rajesh Gupta, Joint Director, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), arrived in Villupuram from Chennai and initially visited the Regulated Marketing Committee in Vikravandi and inspected the godown and assessed the damage due to the flooding.

They also inspected the damage caused in Pambayaru at Ayyankovilpattu near Villupuram.

Officials from the Water Resources Department elaborated on the breach and damage caused to the canals due to the heavy downpour.

Subsequently, the committee had a meeting with the Secretary of Revenue and Disaster Management P Amudha and District Collector C Palani at the Collectorate where the officials detailed the extent of damage caused due to the standing paddy and horticultural crops and damage caused to houses, huts and other infrastructure facilities, including roads, bridges and electric transformers and poles with the help of photos.

At Tiruvennainallur, where there was a breach in Thenpennai Aaru that caused severe damage and breached the Malattaru, the farmers narrated their ordeal and the inundation caused to standing paddy and horticultural crops. They said more than 80,000 hectares of standing crops were damaged and more than 1.15 lakh farmers faced huge crop loss.

Subsequently, the team inspected the damage caused to the bridge at Kooranur, the National Highway at Arasur and on Vayalamur-Soorapattu stretch. They also inspected the damaged horticultural crops at Karungaliattu and the tank breach at Chennakulam village.

After making the assessments, the team proceeded to Neyveli, where they would commence the evaluation on Sunday.

Earlier, upon their arrival in Chennai on Friday, the central team had a meeting with Chief Minister MK Stalin, who submitted a memorandum urging it to recommend Rs 6,675 crore to the State for relief, restoration and rehabilitation works. The MHA has so far approved the release of 944.80 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).