CHENNAI: PWD Minister E V Velu handing over a cheque for Rs 5 crore to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on behalf of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin. Tamil Nadu Government contributed Rs 5 crore from CM’s Public Relief Fund towards Wayanad relief.

Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday spoke to his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan over the phone and enquired about the situation in Wayanad, where landslides induced by overnight heavy downpour have claimed over 50 lives so far.

Assuring all required assistance to the neighbouring state government in its ongoing rescue and relief operations, CM Stalin announced Rs 5 crore as aid from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund to Kerala, in addition to dispatching a rescue-cum-relief team led by two IAS officers - Dr K S Sameeran and John Tom Varghese - from the state.

Stalin has also announced Rs 3 lakh as solatium to the kin of Kalyanakumar (52) of the Nilgiris who was killed in a series of deadly land.

Massive landslides triggered by torrential rains struck the picturesque hamlets of Mundakkai, Chooralmala, Attamala, and Noolpuzha in the early hours of Tuesday, killing several people, including women and children.