Cyclone Vardah: Central team to visit Tamil Nadu to assess cyclone damage

[caption id=“attachment_3156474” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Residents looking at uprooted trees in an area in Chennai. PTI[/caption] New Delhi: An inter-ministerial team, headed by a Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry, will visit Tamil Nadu next week to assess the damage caused by the massive 12 December cyclone. The team, headed Praveen Vashistha, Joint Secretary (LWE), in the Home Ministry, will be accompanied by senior officials of Ministries of Finance, Agriculture, Rural Development, Industries, HRD etc., and visit different cyclone-hit districts of the state, official sources said. The delegation will assess the damage caused by the cyclone to agriculture, industries, infrastructure and other sectors and submit its report to the central government. On the basis of the report, the central government will fix the compensation amount and provide financial assistance to the state concerned, sources said. At least 18 people were killed when cyclone Vardah hit Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on 12 December. The cyclone, that triggered strong winds of nearly 100 kmph, uprooted hundreds of trees and disrupted power supply lines besides land and air transport, throwing normal life out of gear. Around 13,000 people had to take shelter in 100 different locations to escape the fury of the massive cyclone.