M A I N   N E W S

Rain floods 180 TN villages

Chennai, November 26
Tamil Nadu continued to reel under flood fury despite the abatement of rain, even as the Army was pressed into service for relief operations and to rescue lakhs of people marooned in the worst-affected Cuddalore and Tiruchirapalli districts today.

About 180 villages were still under a sheet of water and at least one lakh people were marooned in Cuddalore district. The worst-affected areas included Sethiathope, Chidambaram and Kattumannarkoil and those on the banks of the Paravanar and Vellar rivers.

Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa visited the flood-affected areas in the district and supervised the rescue and relief operations. Assuring adequate compensation to the affected people, she also distributed relief materials, including rice, kerosene and Rs 2000 cash to some of the flood victims at a relief centre.

Later, speaking to reporters, Ms Jayalalithaa said she would write to the Prime Minister seeking more assistance from the National Calamity Contingency Fund to undertake relief operations. The state has already sought Rs 1,742 crore from the Centre as flood relief.

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, accompanied by other Central Ministers from Tamil Nadu, will visit the flood-affected districts tomorrow. — UNI