Ministers move in for monsoon check

TIRUCHY: Delta region has been gearing up to tackle the northeast monsoon rains and adequate preventive measures have been initiated by the respective district administration with the supervision of ministers and monitoring officials.

According to official sources, the first batch of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) arrived on Wednesday.

Preventive steps have been initiated in districts like Nagapattinam, Mayialaduthurai, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, and Tiruchy and the people residing in the low-lying areas have been asked to vacate the areas. Relief camps are also being established with adequate facilities.

The monsoon rains that lashed the Delta region for the past few days in which a few residential areas were marooned. Since the meteorological department has predicted heavy rains for the upcoming days, the respective district collectors have convened meetings with the officials to tackle the situation.

Meanwhile, State Law Minister S Regupathy, who inspected Nagapattinam district, said, the vegetation in the Kaduvaiyaru in Illuppur has been asked to be removed so that the check dam at Manakudi would have a free flow of water.

As a part of preventive steps, regional committees have been forced to coordinate with the people while evacuating them to safer places. As many as 12 cyclone protection centres, five multiple disaster centres, 145 schools, 22 colleges, 100 community halls, and 73 wedding halls are kept ready for establishing relief camps.

He also said that adequate stocks of sandbags, medicines, food items and other basic requirements are kept ready for facing any situation in the monsoon days.

Similarly, Minister Siva V Meyyanathan inspected the ongoing preventive measures in the Mayiladuthurai district and consoled the people whose houses were marooned.

He also handed over the solatium of Rs One lakh to the family members of the farmer Kanakarai (48) who died unfortunately during the rains. He also asked the officials to ensure free from water stagnation.

Meanwhile, the monitoring officer for Thanjavur T Anand who visited the district inspected the ongoing works to prevent any incident during the monsoon days. He also said that 1.15 sandbags are being readied in the district and consoled the family members whose houses were partially damaged due to the rains.

In the meantime, a batch of SDRF reached Tiruchy district and they visited the entire district. They also exhibited drills in Tiruchy to create awareness among the residents and indulge in rescue activities if necessary.