Tamil Nadu - Cuddalore   

Declare flood damage as national disaster: BJP MP

Special Correspondent

CUDDALORE: Bharatiya Janata Party MP and all-India working committee member S. Thiruvanavukkarasar has urged the Centre to declare flood damage in the State as a "national disaster."

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Mr. Thirunavukkarasar said that only if the Centre did so, international organisations, industrialists and MPs would come forward to contribute financial assistance for relief work.

For the death toll, the Central and State Governments should give a solatium of Rs. 1 lakh each and Rs. 10,000 for fully damaged houses, he said.

When the magnitude of damage was so grave, why had not Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the flood-affected places? he asked.

The initial release of Rs. 500 crores by him was not sufficient. It should be in the region of Rs. 2,000 crores, Mr. Thirunavukkarasar said. He would not go into the details of whether the total losses projected by the State Government at Rs. 13,685 crores was right or not.

The BJP leader further said that the Government should take up the responsibility of clearing the silt deposit on farmlands. As the people in the low-lying areas were averse to returning to their habitations, they should be given proper accommodation in safer places.

The 12 Central Ministers from Tamil Nadu should also help the State get adequate relief, Mr Thirunavukkarasar said.

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