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Waive fee for relief materials, EPS urges Goyal
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday wrote a letter to Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to waive freight charges for the relief materials sent to districts affected by cyclone Gaja.
Chennai
In a letter written to Goyal, Palaniswami had asked him extend help for the districts affected by cyclone ‘Gaja’. “I request the railways to waive the freight charges collected by the donors for the relief materials sent to the stations in disaster affected areas, addressed to the district collectors”, said Palaniswami.
Cyclone ‘Gaja’ wreaked havoc in 12 districts in the state as more than 60 persons died and properties worth several lakhs including houses, electric poles and trees were uprooted. Relief materials started pouring in from various quarters but one problem faced by the donors was the booking charges for the freight.
Though the state Transport department announced free transit of relief materials there was no such announcements from Railways following which Palaniswami placed request from Railways to waive the freight charges, at the earliest.
Palaniswami had also recalled the earlier decision of Railways which waived the freight charges during Kerala flood and to apply the same decision for cyclone ‘Gaja’ affected Tamil Nadu too.
Meanwhile, the state government, on Friday, decided to distribute tarpaulin to protect huts getting damaged from the northeast monsoon rain. “Many huts were damaged in Cyclone Gaja and based on the requests from people to provide tarpaulin to protect their huts from monsoon rain state government had decided to provide tarpaulin to the huts in affected districts,” said Palaniswami, in an official statement.
The tarpaulin sheets can be bought by the concerned district collectors from the Civil Supplies department and the funds for buying it can be obtained Chief Minister’s relief fund, said Palaniswami.
Earlier, state government had announced Rs 10,000 as compensation for completely damaged huts and Rs 4,100 for partly damaged huts. Even for persons who lost their houses completely, new houses will be built but based on their eligibility.
Thiruma, Vivekdonate to CM’s fund
VCK leader Thol Thirumalavan met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday and presented a cheque for Rs 10 lakh towards cyclone relief. Film actor Vivek and representatives from Ramco Group and the Velammal Educational Trust too called on Palaniswami and handed over contributions for the relief work, an official press release said. The cyclone had crossed the Tamil Nadu coast between Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam on November 16, claiming 63 lives and leaving behind a trail of destruction that severely hit farming, fishing and power sectors. The districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Pudukottai had suffered the worst damage.
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