Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

Flood relief in city limits: row over selection of beneficiaries

— Photo: M.Moorthy

SERPENTINE QUEUE: Residents of areas in and around Kattur in Tiruchi district wait for their turn to obtain flood relief.

TIRUCHI: The process of identification of rain-affected residents in the city for disbursement of the government’s relief of Rs.1000 each has run into a controversy with one of the four zonal chairpersons of the corporation raising allegations of irregularities in the exercise.

Distribution of relief to families, whose houses were waterlogged, is yet to begin in the corporation limits, pending the completion of the survey to identify the beneficiaries.

The Ariyamangalam zone chairman, A.Jerome Arockiaraj (Congress), has charged the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and the Commissioner of taking unilateral decisions on the matter, without consulting the zonal chairpersons.

However, Mayor Sarubala R.Tondaiman, Deputy Mayor M.Anbazhagan and the Commissioner T.T.Balsamy, in a joint statement, have refuted the allegations and maintained that identification of beneficiaries was being done by Revenue Department and the Corporation staff was only assisting them in the process. So far, they said, about 72,900 affected families have been identified.

Aggrieved residents, who may have been omitted from the list, could give representations for inclusion in the list of beneficiaries, they said.

But Mr. Arockiaraj rejected the Corporation stand and argued that the State Revenue Department officers have said the lists of affected persons have to be prepared by the respective Corporations in the urban areas.

“I have been requesting the Corporation authorities to convene a meeting of the zonal chairpersons and all party representatives of the Corporation Council. But they have not heeded to my request,” he said.

Only the zonal chairpersons, in consultation with their councillors in the respective zones, could provide a correct picture of the affected areas and residents. Under the current survey being made in the city, many affected parts of the city have not been fully covered.

There have been unilateral interventions in the exercise, he alleged.

Mr.Jerome said he has sent a representation to the government in this regard.

Meanwhile, distribution of the relief to affected residents in the rural parts of the district has been under way over the past couple of days.

About 52,000 persons would get Rs.1,000 each in the rural parts and the relief has been disbursed to about 6,000 persons till Thursday, the Collector T.Soundiah said.

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