Chennai (Samajweekly) A day after cyclone Nivar crossed Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coast resulting in loss of four human lives, several cattle and damaging homes and crops, some Chennai suburbs continue to be under water and without power, impacting normal lives of the residents.
The private garbage collection agency is having a tough time in clearing the fallen leaves and other waste on the road.
Opposition parties have criticised the state government for not taking prompt action to prevent water logging by proper desilting of the storm water drains and other channels.
People living in low-lying areas in suburbs like Tambaram, Mudichur and in areas like Velacherry, K.K. Nagar, and Ashok Nagar suffered from water logging.
“There was water-logging in our area when it rained for the past two days. But now it has drained. Water logging is there in low lying areas in Mudichur,” C. Muralidharan, Proprietor, Sree Balaa Catering Services, and a resident of Varadarajapuram near Mudichur, told IANS.
He also said there was no flooding in his area due to the release of water from the Chembarambakkam reservoir into the Adyar River.
Meanwhile, opposition party leaders criticised the AIADMK government for not taking precautionary steps to prevent water logging and also for not taking proper steps to drain out the water from residential localities.
DMK President M.K.Stalin said rain water has entered the homes and several streets and has not been drained out in areas like Tambaram, Mudichur, K.K. Nagar, Ashok Nagar and in his own constituency Kolathur.
He said though Chief Minister K.Palaniswami says the damage to property is low due to precautionary steps taken by the government, he was not able to quantify the limited damage.
Similarly, MDMK leader Vaiko said several acres of various crops, banana plantations have been damaged in the cyclone and the government has to calculate the loss and compensate the farmers.
Meanwhile, Palaniswami, in a statement, announced compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of the four dead.
He said owing to the cyclone, 61 cows, five oxen, 65 calves and 114 goats were killed. A compensation of Rs 30,000 for a cow, Rs 25,000 for an ox, Rs 16,000 for a calf and Rs.3,000 per goat will be paid.
Palanswami also said the cyclone had damaged thatched houses – 302 totally and 1,439 partially, or left houses tilted – 38 totally and 161 partially – and proper compensation will be paid to the owners.
He also said the power utility is setting right 108 transformers that got damaged due to the cyclone, and 2,927 power poles that had fallen down.
Palaniswami said he had ordered officials to find a permanent solution to the water logging problem in Velacherry, Mudichur, Varadarajapuram and Tambaram.
According to him, compensation for crop damage will be paid from the disaster management fund and for crops that have been insured, compensation from the insurers will be obtained.
