Stalin terms CM’s tour hogwash, plans to call PM for cyclone-hit area visit

Claiming that the Chief Minister chose to conduct an aerial survey as people were chasing away Ministers and MLAs of the ruling party, Stalin, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said the CM travelled only a few kilometers by road after the brief aerial survey and distributed relief materials to a handful of people in a designated place amid a posse of police and party cadre. Alleging that people were even barred from using the road taken by the CM, the DMK president asked, “Why did the CM not visit the people? Hiding will not help escape public anger.” He also sought to know how would people cross the security cordon and petition the CM under such circumstances? 

Talking to media persons at DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam later in the day, Stalin, who is also the Leader of Opposition, said the chopper ride was hogwash and the Chief Minister would have done well to not visit even. Refusing to buy the reasoning of the government that the visit was wrapped up abruptly due to inclement weather, Stalin insisted that the CM should have stayed there and met the people after rain stopped.

Criticising the CM for blaming the opposition, Stalin said that he would respond to Palaniswami’s allegations after the Chief Minister responds to the charges levelled by the people. “People in eight districts are struggling without food, potable water and shelter. The Chief Minister, instead of visiting people immediately, cancelled his visit to cyclone-hit areas and attended extravagant govt functions in Salem. He started to flood-affected areas five days after the cyclone only after people, opposition parties and media started criticising him.”

Condemning the CM for announcing relief package without visiting the affected areas, Stalin said the Rs 1,000 crore announced by him would be enough only to feed the people accommodated in the shelters and provide them basic necessities. The DMK chief also said that his party MPs would urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the flood ravaged delta districts of Tamil Nadu. 

The ancestral house of the late DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s family at Thirukuvalai village near Tiruvarur has suffered damage in Cyclone Gaja, officials said on Tuesday. A tree in front of the house got uprooted and fell on the house damaging the tiled roof and a name board, they said. The house is being maintained as a memorial and a library. The cyclone crossed the Tamil Nadu coast near Vedaranyam in neighbouring Nagapattinam district on November 16 causing extensive damage and claiming 46 lives.

State officials should reach out to cyclone-hit delta region as Ministers and CM are unable to deliver relief measures, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader TTV Dhinakaran said in a statement on Tuesday. In the back drop of state Ministers and ruling party MLAs denied entry in to the cyclone-hit areas by the public, the government officials should reach out to them. It has been five days since the cyclone struck and there is no food and water for the public, the statement said. “The present Amma government designated three ministers representing the delta region and prominent portfolios of food, agriculture and handloom were given to the AIADMK MLAs elected from the Delta, but the situation is sad that there is no food and clothes for the residents,” Dhinakaran said. Farmers had lost their farmlands and houses and the government has failed to provide relief materials on time. The RK Nagar MLA also condemned Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami for not visiting the cyclone-hit areas citing bad weather conditions. “At a time when the districts are mauled by cyclone, the state has a Chief Minister who is focussed on participating in government functions,” the statement added.

PMK youth wing leader and Dharmapuri MP Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday came down strongly on Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami by questioning whether he was on a tour to the cyclone affected areas. “Without actually visiting the cyclone affected areas, Palaniswami went only to two spots in Thanjavur and Nagapattinam districts. His visit raised doubts whether he was on a tour to delta districts,” asked Anbumani. He questioned Palaniswami why he could not travel by road to see the cyclone victims. “If Palaniswami finds it difficult to go by road citing rain as the reason how would people live in rain without the supply of any essential goods. In the past five days, majority of the people lodged in rescue camps have not received essential goods such as food and proper drinking water but without meeting them Palaniswami left the cyclone affected areas in a haste,” criticised Anbumani. He also said that the activities of Palaniswami in avoiding thousands of people to petition him show his highhandedness. “When relief materials were distributed, he was surrounded by Ministers, guards, cops but not by victims and the same happened during cyclone ‘Ockhi’ too where he addressed the people at the distance of 100 meters,” said Anbumani.

DMDK leader Vijayakanth on Tuesday said that the damage caused by Cyclone Gaja is huge. It has wiped out the livelihood, savings and the hard work of over 50 years of the people.  “The tsunami, in 2004, took away lives but Cyclone Gaja has wiped out the livelihood of large number of people. Paddy, coconut and banana trees were damaged completely in the Delta districts and life of people has become a question mark,” he said. He also said that party treasurer Premalatha Vijayakanth along with party functionaries visited the cyclone affected areas and found out that a large number of people are living in dark as electricity supply had been affected in most of the areas. Essential supplies such as food and water were not available to the people and many are staying in the nearby schools. Government should ensure drinking water supply by arranging generators to the affected areas and with the help of Tangedco workers from other districts power should be supplied at the earliest, said Vijayakanth. He also accused the officials and Ministers for their lacklustre behaviour towards the people affected by cyclone and demanded the Union government to send teams to ensure speedy work.