Southern districts rally to mobilise relief for neighbouring state

With contributions from Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Madurai and various voluntary organisations, nine trucks of relief materials had been moved to the flood hit Idukki district. Madurai Collector K Veera Raghava Rao, flagged off the first phase of relief supplies dispatch, sources said. The material includes blankets, shawls, bed sheets, towels, rice and other food stuff and medicines. The trucks transported such material through Kumuli, sources said. 

Lots of relief material to aid the flood victims in Kanniyakumari, the district, which lies in the southern tip of Tamil Nadu and bordering Kerala, were transported to Kerala in early hours of Saturday. Five truckloads of relief material had been dispatched and more people were coming forward to offer relief assistance, Kanniyakumari Collector Prashant M Wadnere said. 

From Tirunelveli, seven tonnes of rice, medicine stocks and packets of biscuits were transported to Idukki and Quilon districts of Kerala. Collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish inspected a common relief material collection centre, which has been set up at Palayamkottai. 

Under the banner of ‘Let’s raise hands and support our friends who are affected by Kerala floods,’ Thoothukudi district administration has stepped up efforts to offer relief material. 

Collector Sandeep Nanduri has asked people to feel free to donate items such as drinking water, bath soap, washing soap or powder, mosquito coil or repellents, candles, match boxes, pillows, bedsheets, tea and coffee powder, milk powder, baby diapers, sanitary napkins, slippers, sarees, nighties, lungies, dhotis, inner garments, ORS packets or electrolytes, rice, flour, groundnut, coconut oil, rusk, biscuits, dresses, torches and batteries. Further, the Collector advised the donors to avoid donating ‘used clothes.’

The donors could approach Corporation Main Office, near old bus stand, Palai road, Thoothukkudi, contact person -Hari Ganesh - 98425 30292. 

District Collector Office, Thoothukudi, contact -Muthumathavan, Deputy Collector (Training), 70100 96219

Taluk Office Kovilpatti, contact, Vimala, Head Quarters Deputy Tahsildar -9944748362

Taluk Office, Tiruchendur: contact, Kailasakumarasamy, Head Quarters Deputy Tahsildar, cell -9443871575.

Meanwhile, relief materials worth Rs 10 lakh were dispatched to the flood-hit Kerala from Dindigul. Materials such as rice, dhal, oil, water bottles, milk powder and other necessary items received through Department of Food Safety were transported, Collector TG Vinay said, who also sought more such help from the donors.

More than 20 lorries carrying relief materials worth Rs 2 crore from all districts in the state was on Saturday flagged off to flood-ravaged Kerala. With the Chief Minister announcing Rs 5 crore financial assistance to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Distress fund again, the relief materials collected from all the districts in the states were dispatched, Local Administration Minister SP Velumani, who flagged off the vehicles here said. 

Items like rice, dal, edible oil, sugar, salt, bread and biscuits and cooking materials, cloths, medicines collected from NGOs and other social organisations were sent to Waynad, Malappuram, Thirssur, Palakkad, Calicut and Ernakulam, he noted. Relief materials are being sent from 10 districts including Namakkal, Tirupur, Dindigul, Dharmapuri, and Madurai, the Minister said. Medical camps are functioning at places bordering Tamil Nadu and Kerala for the benefit of those arriving there, he added.