Kamal urges govt to set up expert panel to prevent impact on natural calamities

CHENNAI: Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan on Friday urged the State government to consult with experts and scholars in the field of disaster management to find new ways to prevent such calamities from happening in the future and to protect ourselves if they do happen.

After launching his party’s flood relief work at Alwarpet, he said that the State witnessed very heavy rains in recent times.

“This is a challenging period. Scientists warn that such disasters will become more frequent in the future due to climate change. We have to prepare for it. Heavy rainfall within a short period of time has recently become frequent in North India and some parts of the world. It is the duty of the government to create awareness about disaster management among the public,” he said.

“What the government needs to do now is to speed up relief efforts and prevent the spread of the disease. Places of public gathering including schools, educational institutions, and offices should be used after proper disinfection,” he said.

He said that his party would distribute 5000 flood relief kits containing essential items like rice, wheat, rava, tea, sugar, and salt for the flood-affected families in the first phase.

“We will distribute more such kits to needy people. We have opened a call centre to assist the people. A kitchen to prepare food for 5000 people has been set up and it would function as long as it required. We are also planning to conduct medical camps,” he said, urging the social workers and volunteers to work in coordination with the government to reach out to the needy people.