Reaching out to the cyclone-hit people, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday spoke comforting words to them and promised all help to rebuild their lives as she conducted an aerial survey of the affected areas which struggled to return to normality.
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Ms. Jayalalithaa undertook the visit a day after announcing a Rs 700 crore relief package for the cyclone ravaged areas while DMK chief M Karunanidhi, also on a similar exercise, said he was dissatisfied with relief measures.
Cuddalore and neighbouring Union Territory of Puducherry were the worst-affected by the Thane cyclonic storm which crossed the coast on December 30, leaving in its wake a trail of destruction and claiming 46 lives. Cuddalore accounted for 39 lives.
Addressing the affected people here, Ms. Jayalalithaa asked them not to worry and said government would extend all help. .
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“It is your own government,” she said, adding, it would always be with them.
She distributed relief assistance worth Rs 7.9 crore to 6,036 persons. This included Rs 2 lakh as solatium to the family members of 39 persons who died in the district.
She asked officials to disburse relief to the affected by tomorrow itself.
Meanwhile, Mr Karunanidhi, who also visited the district, expressed unhappiness over relief measures and said his party would take up the issue with the Centre. “I will continue to urge the Centre to support the state government in its steps to provide relief to the affected people,” he said.