AMN /
A nine-member central team headed by Union Home Ministry Joint Secretary TVSN Prasad will visit Tamil Nadu on Thursday to assess damages due to the flood in the state.
The high-level team is represented by officials from the Ministries of Agriculture, Finance, Rural Development, Drinking Water and Power, Road Transport and Highways and Health and the Central Water Commission.
The team has been deputed on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi following a request from the state Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. A financial package of Rs 940 crore has also been released from the National Disaster Relief Fund for sustaining the rehabilitation works.
Meanwhile, rain has subsided in the state since yesterday, though the Meteorology Department has predicted isolated heavy rain along the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh for three days from Friday.
The central inter-ministerial team will hold preliminary discussions with the state government officials in Chennai tomorrow and then proceed on to the affected regions of the city and the districts of Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur and Cuddalore by splitting into different groups to assess the damages for two days
The chairman of the team Mr Prasad reaches Chennai tonight and other four members from Delhi will arrive tomorrow morning, who will be joined by the Central Water Commission representative from Bengaluru and the Highways and Health Ministries from Chennai for the inspection. They are expected to submit their report to the Union Home Ministry within a few days.
Meanwhile, huge amount of excess water from various reservoirs from across the state continues to be discharged, triggering alerts for people living near river banks.