Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami announced an additional relief of Rs 5 crore for the flood-battered state of Kerala on Saturday, in view of the severe damage in the state. The money, he announced, would come out of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund.
The move comes over a week after the Chief Minister had announced a general relief of Rs 5 crore for rescue and rehabilitation efforts, two days after the severe deluge began on August 8.
In addition to this, the CM also announced that relief materials, including 500 metric tonnes of rice, 300 metric tonnes of milk powder, 15, 000 litres of ultra-high temperature processed milk, veshtis, lungis, 10,000 blankets, and essential medicines, would be sent.
He also announced the immediate dispatch of medical and veterinary teams to the affected state.
Two officers of the Tamil Nadu Revenue Administration Department, Santosh Babu and Darez Ahmad, have also been put in charge of the coordination efforts.
He also noted the coordinated distribution of relief materials to the district administration by the people of Tamil Nadu and said that it would continue.
Condoling the deaths of those who lost their lives in the floods, the Chief Minister said, “Due to unprecedented heavy rains in our neighbouring state of Kerala, several districts are flooded and the daily life of people has been completely affected. We have to come to know that over 300 people have died. On behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu, as well as the government, I express my deepest condolences to those who have lost their family members to the continuous heavy rainfall.”
On Thursday, the Chief Minister responded to a letter from his counterpart in Kerala, assuring him of the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to the TN CM on Wednesday, urging him to ensure that the outflow of water from the dam is more than the inflow, in order to 'steadily bring down the water level to a safer 139 feet.'
Vijayan’s letter had pointed out that the catchment of Mullaperiyar Dam had been receiving torrential rainfall since early morning of 14th August, 2018 and was rising steadily.
On Friday, the Supreme Court directed the Mullaperiyar Dam Sub Committee and the National Crisis Management Committee to examine and find a way, if possible, to reduce the water level of the Mullaperiyar Dam to 139ft and ensure that it doesn’t cross the threshold.
While commending Kerala's efforts to mitigate the crisis, the Court also asked Tamil Nadu to 'scrupulously comply’ with the directions of the committee.