DMK president M.K. Stalin on Sunday urged Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to extend financial assistance to people and farmers affected by Cyclone Burevi in Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore and Tiruvarur districts, without waiting for the Union government’s aid.
“When the Central government team visits the flood-affected areas, the State government should meticulously explain the damage and get adequate funds from the Centre. DMK MPs will support the government on this count,” he said in a statement.
Mr. Stalin, who visited Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts, said that more than 50,000 houses and crops planted on three lakh acres had been submerged.
“Roads have been damaged in the rain, and water has entered the Iravatheeswarar temple at Tarasuram. Help has not reached people, and farmers made a complaint to me,” Mr. Stalin said.
Mr. Stalin said the suburban areas of Chennai had not recovered from the flood, and as the stormwater drainage scheme had not been implemented, rainwater was stagnating, posing health hazards to people.
Mr. Stalin visited villages in Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts, affected by the recent rain, and distributed relief materials among the people.
Visits to villages
Mr. Stalin, who arrived in Tiruvarur on Saturday night, commenced his visits to rain-affected areas in the district on Sunday morning.
He visited Ammaiappan and Kaavanur villages, where paddy crops were inundated in the heavy rain. He distributed relief materials — 10 kg of rice, groceries, vegetables and bed sheets — among those at temporary relief centres, in Katchanam and Thazhakudi.
Before leaving, the DMK chief, who stayed at his family house in Tiruvarur town, offered floral tributes to a portrait of Ambedkar, on the occasion of the leader’s death anniversary.
Mr. Stalin was accompanied by former Minister and the party’s principal secretary, K.N. Nehru, and Tiruvarur district secretary and MLA Poondi K. Kalaivanan.
The DMK leader, who entered Nagapattinam via Kolapadu village, was given a reception.
He then went to his ancestral house in Thirukkuvalai, and garlanded the statues of his grandfather Muthuvelar, grandmother Anjugamammal, father and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and former Union Minister Murasoli Maran.
Damage to crops
Later, he went to Melapidagai village, near Velankanni, and got down at an inundated paddy field. He ascertained from the farmers the extent of damage to their crops.
He gave away relief material to 200 affected people in Melapidagai.
He also visited Melanagore, where he distributed relief material to 250 persons.
