Many people affected by the Chennai floods are reported to be approaching banks to enquire about personal loans and other monetary support.
They say the financial assistance announced by the State government will not be sufficient to meet their expenses. According to the announcement, an amount of Rs. 10,000 would be given to those who lost their huts and a sum of Rs. 5,000, to those who live in permanent structures.
The manager of a public sector bank said, “We have got enquiries about personal loans from our customers. We have informed the corporate office and are seeing what best we can do,” he said.
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Many flood-affected people say they have already spent more than Rs. 10,000 in the last four days for cleaning their houses, repairing vehicles and replacing motors and electric wires that have damaged. In addition, many now have to buy new furniture, electronic items that would cost more than Rs. 15,000 or even more, depending on what the person is looking for. To get one’s life back to normal, an average person would need a minimum of Rs. 30,000.
A manager at HDFC Bank said, “We did get a few enquires about personal loans. But people have already started buying with whatever funds they have with them,” he said.