Tamil Nadu CM announces Rs150 crore package for road repair

With several parts of the city and suburbs hit by the recent heavy rains, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today made an aerial survey and announced a package of Rs 150 crore to repair damaged roads.

She also held consultations with senior officials and directed them to take measures on a war footing in the affected areas.

"During the meeting, I have asked them to provide welfare funds for those who were affected in the recent rains and have also advised them to repair the damaged roads on a war footing basis. For repairing the roads, I have allotted Rs 150 crore", Jayalalithaa said in a statement here.

Similarly the government officials would conduct a meeting with District Collectors to assess the damages due to the rains, including to crops.

She said the heavy rains have so far claimed 92 lives in the state and the government had already announced a solatium of Rs two lakh each to those killed. This would incur an expenditure of Rs 1.84 crore to the exchequer, she said.

She said a sum of Rs 25.30 lakh has been given to cattle owners and Rs 3.70 crore has been given for repairing damaged houses. This year's North East Monsoon was more than 40 per cent of normal rainfall.

Meanwhile, the Met office said that the rainfall would tend to gradually decrease as the depression which lay centred East-Central Arabian Sea was expected to move West-Northwest of Arabian Sea.