Chennai rains: TN CM appoints ministers to oversee rain relief work

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Thursday appointed Ministers to oversee rain relief work here and in neighbouring Kancheepuram with showers resuming in this metropolis and adjoining districts as well.

After chairing a review meet at the Secretariat here, Palaniswami named Ministers to coordinate and take up relief work "on a war footing," in affected areas in all 15 zones of Greater Chennai Corporation and Kancheepuram district.

Days after naming senior bureaucrats as co-ordinators to all 15 zones of the corporation here to monitor relief work, the State government, in an official release, said IAS officials have been deputed for all districts as well.

The Ministers named to monitor relief work here include those holding portfolios of Revenue (R B Udhayakumar), Electricity (P Thangamani), Food (R Kamaraj), Law (C Ve Shanmugam), Fisheries (D Jayakumar).

Also, Minsiters for Forest (Dindigul C Sreenivasan), Information Technology, (M Manikandan), Transport (M R Vijayabhaskar) and Higher Education (K P Anbalagan) will be monitoring the relief work in this metropolis. Anbalagan will also take care of Kancheepuram district.

In all other rain affected districts too, senior bureaucrats would work with Minsiters hailing from those respective districts for relief work, the government said.

A day after two children were electrocuted here, the Chief Minister ordered officials to ensure that 'pillar boxes' (distributing electricity) in streets should be placed at a safe height to avoid its inundation.

A leaky wire from the pillar box which was covered in rain water had led to the electrocution.

The review meet took stock of steps already being taken and measures needed to be followed for rain relief work.

The Chief Minister directed officials to use additional motor pumps to quickly bail out water from inundated areas.

He told officials to hold health camps in affected areas to avoid endemic. Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, State Ministers and government officials, including secretaries, to various departments participated in the review meet.