Tamil Nadu government places rain death toll at 347

While, 347 human lives were lost since Oct 1, about 17.64 lakh were rescued and sheltered in 6605 relief centres in the state, it said.

The government, which has expedited rehabilitation efforts, said over 1.28 crore food packets have been distributed and an immediate relief amount of Rs 67.47 crore was disbursed among over 1.11 lakh families. Twelve columns of Army, 48 NDRF teams, 400 Navy and Coast Guard personnel, five helicopters from Indian Air Force, two from the Coast Guard and two from Navy were deployed for relief operations, an official release said.

Totally, 590 tonnes of milk powder has been distributed, 4.05 lakh sanitary napkins were provided to women, including those in relief camps, so far, against the targeted 10 lakh, it said.

The fury of north-east monsoon had left a trail of destruction in the state, especially in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Cuddalore.

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who had earlier pegged the damage at Rs 8,148 crore, has demanded that the Centre declare the “unprecedented, catastrophic floods” as a national calamity and suggested a series of measures including moratorium on home and vehicle EMIs and providing soft loans to the affected people. 

As an immediate relief to the rain victims, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had announced that Rs 10,000, 10 kg of rice, plus a dhoti and a sari would be distributed to those who have lost their huts and Rs 5,000, rice and clothes for damaged houses.

Keeping in line with the Chief Minister’s order, officials commenced a door-to-door survey in the affected pockets in Chennai on Wednesday and the exercise began in Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur, the other two rain-hit districts, on Thursday, according to sources.

However, in some places, there were complaints of political party workers’ interference in the process of survey.

Meanwhile, the two neighbouring disrticts of Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari experienced widespread heavy rains on Thursday that crippled life in most places. 

Owing to the downpour most of the rivers in both the regions are in spate and all dams in the two districts are inching towards their full capacity, sources said. 

Many arterial roads were flooded and villages were marooned due to the rains, according to locals.

In many pockets power supply was suspended as a precautionary measure, sources added.