Cyclone Fengal damage report: MHA’s figures stand in stark contrast with Tamil Nadu govt data
The Ministry said the situation report, prepared by the Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response of the Disaster Management Division, was as on 6 pm on December 4
Floods in Villupuram area aftermath of Cyclone Fengal
CHENNAI: Even while it said Cyclone Fengal brought widespread destruction to Tamil Nadu leaving a trail of death and devastation in its wake, the report prepared by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs stood in stark contrast with the data that the State government had given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a letter that Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote on December 2.
The Ministry said the situation report, prepared by the Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response of the Disaster Management Division, was as on 6 pm on December 4. It was put together based on the information given by the affected states and Puducherry Union Territory, the ministry claimed.
According to the central ministry’s report, the cyclone claimed 26 people in Tamil Nadu, including 13 due to floods, 7 due to landslides, and 3 due to wall collapse, lightning and other reasons, and 3 due to electrocution. Also, 8 people were also injured.
"In addition to the loss of human life, Cyclone Fengal has also affected more than 2.5 lakh people in 14 districts of Tamil Nadu and 2,85,000 people in the Union Territory of Puducherry. The cyclone has also resulted in significant damage to infrastructure, with 2,294 houses damaged in Tamil Nadu and 37 houses and 200 huts damaged in Puducherry," the report from the Home Ministry said.
The agricultural sector has been severely affected by the cyclone, with 17,905 hectares of agricultural lands damaged in Tamil Nadu so far, it added.
These numbers, however, fall much short of the ones that Chief Minister Stalin had given to Modi on December 2. For instance, the Tamil Nadu government figures said 69 lakh families and 1.5 crore individuals were affected by the calamity. Also, the State government’s numbers said 2,11,139 hectares of agricultural and horticultural land were affected, which is nearly 12 times as that of the MHA figure.
Similarly, the situation report says 403 km of local roads/State highways were damaged so far. According to Stalin’s letter, however, 9,576 km of roads were damaged – a difference of nearly 24 times.
Other than the fatalities, which seem to have been updated after the CM’s letter (12 deaths as per Stalin’s letter on December 2 as opposed to 26 according to the MHA report), the only number where the central data is higher is the loss of livestock. The report said 83,763 cattle died in Tamil Nadu, which was only 963 at the time Stalin wrote the letter.