Though the State had not witnessed any monsoon-related damages this year, the Tamil Nadu Government has kept ready over 4,000 relief centres across the State to accommodate up to 2.50 lakh people to be evacuated from affected areas, Commissioner of Revenue Administration and State Relief Commissioner K. Phanindra Reddy has said.
However, the government has planned to accommodate only 50% of this strength in the relief camps in the wake of the pandemic.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday evening after visiting a few rainwater stagnant areas in the city, Mr. Reddy said the State Government’s disaster response force with 1,000 personnel was ready for relief and rescue operations besides the 4,000 police personnel trained by the SDRF, who are under the control of the Superintendents of Police concerned in all the districts. Apart from this, National Disaster Response Force was also there to chip in, if the situation demands.
All the equipment required for relief and rescue operations had been procured with State Disaster Response Fund and positioned at vantage places.
Departments such as public health, revenue, police, fire and rescue services, rural development and public works departments had been put on high alert to monitor the situation closely and act swiftly to meet any eventuality.
The Department of Fisheries was being given weather forecast by the Indian Metrological Department regularly, based on which the fishermen on high-seas were being alerted with high-power communication gadgets.
“We can alert the fishermen in deep seas up to 200 nautical miles as they have been provided with very high frequency sets,” Mr. Reddy said.
The Commissioner of Revenue Administration lauded the efforts of the district administration and the Tirunelveli Corporation in draining the stagnant rainwater immediately.
District Collectors V. Vishnu of Tirunelveli and G. S. Sameeran of Tenkasi, Superintendent of Police, Tirunelveli, N. Manivannan participated in the meeting that discussed the preparations put in place during north-east monsoon.
