Informing Parliament that 93 lives were lost and 10,468 houses were damaged due to Cylone Ockhi, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said on Wednesday that the Union government, besides deploying its armed forces in the rescue operations, had released ₹357 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to the affected States for relief and rehabilitation.
Moreover, the Centre had also released ₹133 crore each to Tamil Nadu and Kerala from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), the Minister said in a written reply to D. Raja of the Communist Party of India.
‘46 advisories issued’
The Minister also denied the allegation of DMK MP M. Kanimozhi that there was a delay in alerting the regional and local disaster management authorities.
“Based on the IMD forecast and bulletins, the first advisory was issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to the State governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the authorities of Lakshadweep at 12 noon on November 29, and thereafter, at regular intervals. A total of 46 advisories were issued by the NDMA between November 29 and December 6 to the authorities concerned,” Mr. Rijiju said.
Mr. Raja wanted to know about the loss of lives and property caused by Ockhi in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the details on the compensation paid to the affected and the relief and rescue operations carried out in the affected areas of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Mr. Rijiju said Kerala, as on December 22, had witnessed the loss of 74 lives while 19 persons were killed in Kanniyakumari district of Tamil Nadu in the mishaps triggered by the cyclone on and off the shore.
The cyclone damaged 6,868 houses in Tamil Nadu and 3,600 in Kerala. Of the ₹357 crore released from the SDRF towards relief, Tamil Nadu received ₹280.50 crore, while Kerala got ₹76.50 crore for relief operations.
The Minister said the Union government had provided all possible logistics assistance including the deployment of the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Air Force and the National Disaster Response Force at strategic locations and supply of sufficient food, medicines etc.
Central team in T.N.
A team of Central and State officials is currently assessing the damage caused by Cyclone Ockhi.
While a team of five officials including team leader Sanjeev Kumar Jindal, joint secretary, Ministry of Home, is in Kanniyakumari, another team of four officials will visit various areas in north Chennai, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts on Thursday and Friday to assess the damage caused by the rains during the north-east monsoon. On Friday, the team from Kanniyakumari will visit Chennai and is expected to meet Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, State government officials said.
(With inputs from
T.K. Rohit in Chennai)
