Centre gave meagre Rs 1,151 cr towards Disaster Relief: TN govt

Presenting the Interim Budget in the Assembly, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said the Union Government has sanctioned only ₹1,151 crore towards disaster relief, against ₹50,922 crore sought by the State over the past five years. He said Tamil Nadu has faced repeated climate-related disasters, including the 2021 floods, Cyclone Mandous (2022), Cyclone Michaung and southern district floods (2023), Cyclone Fengal (2024) and Cyclone Ditwah (2025). Despite these events, the Centre allocated ₹6,013 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund during this period, while the State itself allocated ₹15,173 crore, incurring an additional burden of ₹9,160 crore for disaster management works. Highlighting preparedness measures, the Minister said heat waves have been declared a state-specific disaster and action plans have been prepared for 11 municipal corporations in the first phase. Drought mitigation works worth ₹110 crore are under way in Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram and Sivagangai districts. He also announced the establishment of the Urban Disaster Management Authority for the Greater Chennai Corporation and plans to set up the Tamil Nadu State Institute of Disaster Management at a cost of ₹50 crore to strengthen long-term resilience. @@@