Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today visited the cyclone-hit areas in Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur.
He offered prayers at the Nagoor Dargah and Velankanni Church and also visited the pond near the Dargah which was damaged during the cyclone. He also visited the farms that were damaged during the cyclone and interacted with the farmers there about the damages incurred.
Following the meeting with the Central team yesterday, Palaniswami left for Cuddalore where he visited the flood-hit areas.
On his way to Cuddalore, Palaniswami visited Thirunaraiyur village near Kattumannarkovil to inspect the damage caused by over flooding of a canal in the village which inundated the houses.
Sources said more than 42,000 hectares of paddy, 500 hectares of banana crops, close to 200 hectares of flowers, more than 2,300 hectares of vegetables, more than 1,100 hectares of cotton and 6,202 hectares of maize were damaged due to Cyclone Burevi in Cuddalore district.
Palaniswami proceeded to Chidambaram, where the entire town was inundated by floods. Many of the roads and houses were damaged due to the floods and the Chief Minister inspected three different localities in Chidambaram. He also inspected a damaged water body and directed the officials to repair them at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the State government has released Rs 74.24 crore as for the cyclone relief works.
The government said that these funds will be used to repair the damaged roads, houses, bridges and EB poles.
It may be noted that the Central team which was in Chennai to assess the cyclone hit areas on Tuesday held a meeting with Palaniswami at the Secretariat yesterday.
The meeting took place after the team had assessed the areas that were affected during the Nivar Cyclone and continuous rains.
Sources said that Palaniswami sought financial aid from the Centre by pointing out the damages.
The team left for Delhi yesterday evening following which it is expected to file its report to the Central government.
It may be noted that two Central teams arrived in Chennai on 5 December to visit the Cyclone affected areas in Tamilnadu and to make an on-the-spot assessment of the damages caused by the calamity and submit a report to the Centre.