Minister for Higher Education and Agriculture K.P. Anbalagan said surveys to identify damage caused by the two cyclones to agricultural lands were progressing, and, till Saturday, two lakh hectares of land were estimated to be affected.
“The State government is surveying the affected areas through the Revenue and Agriculture departments. Till Saturday, two lakh hectares of agricultural land were identified. The Horticulture Department has identified 3,500 hectares of affected land. Work to provide necessary compensation to the affected persons is progressing,” he told reporters.
Responding to Opposition Leader M.K. Stalin’s charges on relief measures, Mr. Anbalagan asked how the leader would know about relief measures when he had not even stepped out of his house. During the pandemic, the Opposition leader issued statements from his house, without knowing what was happening on the ground, he said.
On actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s allegations regarding the inquiry ordered against Anna University Vice-Chancellor M.K. Surappa, Mr. Anbalagan said Mr. Haasan made the statement without knowing the reality, and was giving out statements as elections were nearing.
On the reopening of colleges, he said classes would resume for final-year students as they needed laboratories to do practicals. Hostels had been kept ready to accommodate students from other States as well. However, examinations would be held only through the online mode, he added.
