Puducherry, Dec 31: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will inspect cyclone Thane ravaged villages in the union territory of Puducherry and Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu tomorrow.
Speaking to reporters here after holding a review meeting, Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy said Chidambaram would proceed to affected areas in the union territory immediately on arrival here at 11 AM, then leave for Cuddalore and return in the evening before proceeding to Chennai en route to Delhi.
Rangasamy said he would present a detailed report to him on the damage, estimated at around Rs 2,000 crore and apprise him of the death toll, which has now risen by one to eight.
He said Chidambaram's visit was in response to his request yesterday to come here and inspect the damage for himself.
Rangasamy also said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had contacted him earlier today, enquired about the situation and informed him that a Central team would soon visit Puducherry for an assessement.
He said Singh also assured him that the Centre would extend financial aid to Puducherry to tackle the situation.
Rangasamy said around 17000 hectares of agricultural land had been damaged and crops,including banana,coconut, paddy and vegetables damaged in Puducherry and Karaikal regions.
He said the government would distribute Rs 2000 as relief to 2.59 lakh families having ration cards from January 2 or 3 through anganwadi centres.
Rangasamy said each of the 30,265 fishermen who are members of the Federation of Welfare of Fishermen would be paid Rs 1800 (which includes Central aid of Rs 1200).
He said more than 63 transformers were totally damaged and power was being restored as quickly as possible. By Monday all areas would get back power.
He said Puducherry had lost a huge number of trees in the cyclone. About 35 head of cattle were lost, he said.
