Cyclone Fengal relief work: Puducherry seeks Rs 600crore aid from Centre | India News – Times of India

PUDUCHERRY: The territorial govt has sought Rs 600crore financial aid from the Centre to take up relief and rehabilitation work in Puducherry and Karaikal which were battered by the incessant rain triggered by Cyclone Fengal.
In a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah, chief minister N Rangasamy urged the Centre to depute a team immediately to assess the damage caused by cyclone and heavy rainfall and release funds for relief and rehabilitation work.
He said the Puducherry govt assessed the tentative cost of damage caused by the cyclone as Rs 614.88 crore. He said most of the roads had been badly damaged. He requested the Union govt to sanction Rs 427 crore to lay urban and rural roads in the Union territory “as a special case.”
Rangasamy said most of the working population lost livelihood due to incessant rain. The Puducherry govt announced Rs 5,000 aid to each ration cardholder. An amount of Rs 177 crore is required for this purpose.
“On priority, we have to take up desilting of drainage canals in Puducherry UT in a war footing manner to avoid inundation of water, which is causing more damage to the public,” he said.
Rangasamy enclosed a copy of the memorandum seeking financial assistance with the letter. “This report is submitted as a tentative demand to take care of urgent needs and a detailed report of damage will be submitted by the Puducherry govt to the Union home ministry in due course of time,” he said.
He said Puducherry received a total rainfall of nearly 168.88cm for this year against the annual average of 138.9cm. Four people were killed in rain-related accidents. He said, 1.5 lakh houses were inundated and 154 houses were severely damaged, and 315 huts and 4,168 houses were damaged partially due to falling of trees and heavy wind.
Further, 9,981.72 hectares of crops in Puducherry and Karaikal regions were completely affected by heavy rainfall and flood. Six milch animals, 30 calves, 10 sheep/ goats and 5,000 poultry livestock were killed in rain-related incidents. Five cattle sheds were destroyed.
He said 14,315 fishermen lost their livelihood and 976 boats were damaged during the cyclonic storm. Approximately 500 trees and 1,596 electric poles were uprooted, 2.15 lakh aluminium conductors – steel reinforced (ACSR) 53 energy-efficient transformers and 52 school/ college buildings were damaged.