Over 12,300 people have been shifted to 229 relief camps in 15 districts across Tamil Nadu, Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran told reporters here on Thursday.
While 2,240 people were staying in 44 relief camps in the Greater Chennai Corporation, 10,073 people were staying in 185 camps in 14 districts — Chengalpattu, Cuddalore, Kallakurichi, Kancheepuram, Nagapattinam, Perambalur, Pudukkottai, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruvarur and Villupuram.
To undertake relief operations, a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was deputed to Varadarajapuram in Kancheepuram district. Three NDRF teams each have been sent to Chengalpattu and Chennai districts. One team each has been sent to Cuddalore, Madurai, Nagapattinam and Tiruvallur districts. Two teams each of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been sent to Cuddalore and Thanjavur.
Mr. Ramachandran said 200 officers were deputed to ensure delivery of free food packets to the affected people in all 200 wards in 15 zones of the Greater Chennai Corporation. So far, over 26.50 lakh food packets had been distributed.
Since water rose in the Adyar, residents of Ashtalakshmi Nagar, Bhuvaneswari Nagar, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Amudham Nagar and Sriram Nagar were asked to move to safety. Phone messages were sent through the Common Alert Protocol to 9,696 persons, he said.
Of the 523 areas where waterlogging occurred, 46 areas were cleared with pumps, and work was under way in 477 areas. Over 230 fallen trees were cleared. Over 79,000 people benefited from 2,007 medical camps, he said. A total of 13,345 complaints were received and 5,453 were redressed.
Commissioner of Revenue Administration K. Phanindra Reddy, Revenue Secretary Kumar Jayant, Commissioner of Land Administration S. Nagarajan and Director of Disaster Management N. Subbaiyan were also present at the press meet.
