Declare Cyclone Nilam As Natural Calamity: Naidu To PM

Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday requested Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to declare the damages caused due to cyclone Nilam as natural calamity, and to release funds for the relief and rehabilitation works under the Natural Calamity Fund.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the TDP chief demanded that a Central team be sent immediately to the affected areas to assess the damage. He complained that the state government has completely failed to take required precautions to minimize damages after the cyclone alert was issued by the Met Department. He also alleged that the state government has failed to take immediate relief and rehabilitation measures in the affected districts.

Naidu also requested the Prime Minister to visit the affected areas.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters at Ramakrishnapuram of Narayanapet mandal after resuming his "Vastunna Mee Kosam" padayatra in Mahabubnagar district, Naidu said that as many as 14 districts had been affected due to heavy rains and flooding. He alleged that the government did not handle the cyclone Nilam as an emergency, and that its reaction was very late in taking up relief and rescue operations. He said that the government did not even set up a control room on time.

The TDP president criticised Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and other ministers for visiting Delhi while several districts in the state were under the grip of a severe cyclone. Instead of rushing to the affected areas, the Chief Minister and ministers confined themselves to their offices to hold review meetings.

It may be mentioned that the TDP president visited the flood affected areas of Krishna, East and West Godavari districts by discontinuing his padayatra in Mahabubnagar district. (INN)