TN govt boycotts Governor’s review meet on flood relief at Raj Bhavan

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday skipped a meeting chaired by Governor R N Ravi at the Raj Bhavan to review the rescue and relief operations undertaken by Central agencies and Defence forces in the state.

No official from the state government attended the meeting, though a ‘request was sent to the Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu’, to send a representative to the meeting, a Raj Bhavan release said.

Some agencies raised concerns about the absence of coordination in the deployment of personnel and a ‘lack of appreciation’ of the overall situation in the affected districts. Due to this, such agencies ‘have no clear idea’ about the exact resource requirements and priorities in deployment.

Ravi told them to mobilise additional resources and he assured them that he will also facilitate additional resources from Central agencies.

The meeting was held to review the present situation and on-going rescue and relief operations, to bring about better coordination, and to mobilise additional resources for the rescue and relief efforts in the flood-affected areas in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.

The officers shared the ‘grim situation,’ especially in Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli. Central Government agencies said they have placed their resources at the State Government’s disposal. They are providing rescue and relief as directed by state and district authorities and also on their own wherever possible.

The Army has deployed 2 columns and the Navy said personnel from INS Kattabomman (Tirunelveli) and INS Parundu (Ramanathapuram) are reaching out to the people. The Air Force is carrying out flying operations for rescue and relief using aircraft from Sulur (Coimbatore) Air Base and Thiruvananthapuram.

The Coast Guard, with its rescue team, ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter), Dornier aircraft and Kayaks are carrying out the rescue operations in Thoothukudi. The NDRF has deployed 10 teams in the affected areas from its 4th battalion based in Arakkonam, near Chennai.

Senior officials of the armed forces, Coast Guard, NDRF, Southern Railways, Airports Authority of India, BSNL, India Meteorological Department and the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) attended the meeting.

The DMK regime and Governor Ravi are at loggerheads over several issues, which includes policy matters.