Cyclone Gaja: Central team holds talks with Tamil Nadu CM

Chennai: A central team deputed to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Gaja in Tamil Nadu on Saturday held discussions with Chief Minister K Palaniswami here.

The seven-member team is headed by Daniel E Richard, a senior official in the Union Home Ministry in New Delhi.

The team members met the Chief Minister at the Secretariat and held discussions with him, an official release said.

Tamil Nadu Ministers D Jayakumar, C Ve Shanmugam and RB Udayakumar and senior officials including Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan were present during the meeting.

While five members of the team had arrived from Delhi yesterday, two others who are stationed here, have joined them.

The officials belong to various central departments such as Finance, Power and Agriculture.

The team is expected to complete its assessment in three days starting with a visit to Tiruchirapalli.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi Thursday, Palaniswami sought about Rs 15,000 crore as central assistance towards relief and rehabilitation activities in cyclone-hit districts of the state.

He also asked Modi to depute a central team to assess the damage.

Cyclone 'Gaja' had crossed the Tamil Nadu coast early on November 16 between Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam, about 300 km from Chennai. It left behind a trail of destruction in Nagapattinam district and also in several other districts.

The cyclone has claimed 63 lives, with Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Pudukottai being the worst affected districts.