Defence Minister assures more kerosene supply to Gaja-hit areas from today

Interacting with Cyclone Gaja affected people and the coconut farmers at Peravurani, Nirmala Sitharaman in Thanjavur on Friday said that the Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was informed about the increased need for kerosene in the Gaja-affected areas for lighting and other purposes and he assured of supply at five places from Saturday evening.

“At the same time, the total requirement of kerosene would be fulfilled and I have spoken to the State Food Minister R Kamaraj and asked him to take measures for distribution of kerosene to be provided by the Centre,” she added.

“It is unfortunate that those who feed the country have been facing the worst after the cyclone,” she said and asked the people of the region not to lose heart and they would be assisted in rebuilding their lives.

She also visited a few places in Pudukkottai district, including Neduvasal.

Earlier, the Defence Minister held discussions with state Ministers KA Sengottaiyan, R Doraikkannu, Udumalai K Radhakrishnan, Kadambur Raju, Rajya Sabha MP R Vaithilingam and Collector A Annadurai at the Peravurani inspection bungalow. The Minister also visited an affected coconut grove at Thuravikkadu near Peravurani and heard the coconut farmers at the consultation meeting.

Defence ship to ferry coconut seeds from Andaman

Stating that the coconut farmers have poured a series of grievances during her visit, Nirmala said, something need to be done for the farmers who had availed crop loan, educational loan with the hope they would get steady income from the coconut and now facing a situation where they could not even repay the interest for their loans. “I would take this to the Finance Minister about the loan waiver and he would take a final decision in this regard,” she said. 

She asked the officials to entertain the information about damaged coconut trees by farmers besides the enumeration by the officials. “The affected farmers should also submit the number of trees affected in their field and I have asked the district collectors to include and compare for assessment,” she said.

Meanwhile, she said that the availability of coconut seedlings in the state would be assessed and if there is need for more seedlings the states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Andaman would be approached for seedlings and they would be transported by Defence ship to the Delta region via Thoothukudi, she stressed. 

Tamilisai Soundararajan, the state BJP president, Pannavayal Ilango the district BJP president accompanied her during the visit.