The Union Government’s team, deputed for an on-the-spot assessment of the rain damage in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, arrived in Chennai on Sunday and held discussions with senior officials.
The team will visit 12 affected districts in Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory this week.
The seven-member team is led by Joint Secretary in the Union Home Ministry Rajiv Sharma. The other members are Consultant in the Union Ministry of Finance R.B. Kaul; Director in the Department of Agriculture Vijay Rajmohan; Assistant Director in the Union Ministry of Power Bhavya Pandey; Under-Secretary in the Union Ministry of Rural Development M.V.N. Varaprasad; Director in the Union Ministry of Water Resources R. Thangamani; and Regional Director in the Union Ministry of Road Transport Rananjay Singh.
On Sunday evening, the team held discussions with Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu, Commissioner of Revenue Administration K. Phanindra Reddy, Revenue Secretary Kumar Jayant and senior officials at the Secretariat.
It also met Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi in the Ripon Building.
Four of the seven members, led by Mr. Rajiv Sharma, will visit the flood-affected areas in Chennai, Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram districts on the forenoon of Monday before proceeding to Puducherry in the afternoon. On November 23, the team is expected to visit the affected areas in Cuddalore and Mayiladuthurai districts in the forenoon and Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Tiruchi districts in the afternoon.
The three other members will fly to Thoothukudi on Monday morning and then proceed to Kanniyakumari by road. On Tuesday, it will return to Chennai and proceed to Vellore and Ranipet districts. Both the teams will return to Chennai by Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, the team will have a debriefing session at the Secretariat at 10 a.m. and will leave for New Delhi in the evening.
Though the Tamil Nadu Government has submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking ₹2,629 crore for relief work, Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran said on Sunday that more funds would be sought because of the damage that had since occurred in more districts.
