Puducherry rains: Rangasamy announces Rs 150 crore relief package for farmers

Puducherry, Dec 4: Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Friday announced that the Union Territory Administration would soon disburse as much as Rs 150 crores as relief to rain ravaged farmers, hut-dwellers, house owners and cattle owners in Puducherry, Karaikal and Yanam regions.

Addressing a hurriedly convened press conference in his chamber here today, the Chief Minister said that he was really pained to see the "unprecedented havoc the rains had caused in Puducherry and Karaikal regions during the last twenty days damaging standing crops, horticultural crops and also to houses and huts besides hitting cattle owners". [Parts of Puducherry float as rains continue]

Taking into consideration the government has worked out a relief package totalling Rs 150 crores immediately and would disburse the amount to the affected farmers and others.

Rangasamy said that he had already sent a report to the Prime Minister and also to Union Home Minister seeking an assistance of Rs 183 crores for Puducherry to manage the situation.

Since the rain continued to batter Puducherry even after the submission of the report and also after the visit of the inter ministerial Central team recently the government had prepared a supplementary report assessing the increased damages which would mean that the government would need Rs 150 crores additionally bringing the total requirement to Rs 333 crores.

He said that the government had also decided to provide a cash relief of Rs 4000 to each family covered under the public distribution system (PDS).

"All families holding the ration cards would be handed the relief and each of 3.10 lakh families would be handed Rs 4000" he said.

PTI