The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Thursday directed the State to file a comprehensive report with district-wise breakdown on relief and restoration works undertaken in the areas hit by Cyclone Gaja.
A Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan and P.D. Audikesavalu also sought a report from the Centre on its response to the request for assistance by the State. The court directed that the reports should be submitted on November 26, the next date of hearing.
The Revenue and Disaster Management department, in an affidavit filed before the court, said the State had sanctioned ₹1,000 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to the Collectors for carrying out relief and restoration works.
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A total of 507 relief centres with basic amenities had been opened and kept ready in coastal districts. A team of senior IAS officers had been monitoring the situation and eight NDRF and four TNSDRF teams were positioned at the affected areas. As a precautionary measure, a holiday was declared for schools and colleges in the areas, the department said.
The status report said the aftermath of the cyclone had caused an extensive damage to power distribution and transmission infrastructure in coastal districts. Out of the 1,07,135 electricity poles that were damaged, 22,780 had been restored. Transmission lines running to a total length of 2,130 km and 201 distribution transformers had been restored. TANGEDCO had mobilised 22,334 employees to carry out restoration work despite the rains, it said.
In a response to a plea for multi-purpose cyclone shelters, the State said a World Bank-funded ‘Coastal Disaster Risk Reduction Project’ was implemented in the State in 2014 and so far 121 multi-purpose evacuation shelters had been built in 13 coastal districts. The Centre submitted that aircraft and Indian Coast Guard vessels were deployed for relief activities.
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