Central team to submit report on TN situation today

“The five-member expert team visited various places in Chennai to ascertain whether social distancing is followed and people are provided basic amenities during the lockdown period. There were some minor glitches during their inspection like people not wearing masks but on the whole the team was satisfied,” said the officials from Revenue department.

The five-member expert panel from NDRF led by its Joint Secretary V Thiruppugazh reached Chennai on April 24 and visited various places where people crowd in Chennai. They visited places like Koyambedu market, Amma Canteens, Chennai Port, slum pockets in North Chennai, Port and so on where people crowd in large numbers and where migrant labourers could be found.

After completing its week-long inspection in Chennai, the team left to Delhi on Sunday afternoon. Officials said that the team would submit its report to the Central government on Monday and thereafter, based on the report, the Centre will allocate fund to the State.

Earlier, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had urged the Centre to disburse Rs 9,000 crore to the State to fight against COVID-19 but the Central government allocated little over Rs 500 crore for the State. In the last three video conferencing meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister had urged Centre to allot the remaining fund for the State.

Meanwhile, officials said that when the expert team visited few slum areas, people were found without masks and the expert team instructed the local officials to ensure that all the people should wear masks. Barring such incidents, the officials were satisfied especially over the food provided in Amma Canteens and the essential supplies provided to migrant labourers, added the officials.