Meeting on flood prevention
Rural Industries Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy (second left) addressing a meeting on flood prevention in Coimbatore on Sunday. District Collector Neeraj Mittal (left), Mayor R. Venkatachalam (third left) and City Police Commissioner C.K. Gandhirajan (right) are in the picture.Rural Industries Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy on Sunday stressed total preparedness on the part of the revenue and police departments to deal with calamities that could be caused in the district by rain. At a meeting that he chaired here on flood prevention, the Minister called for extra vigil as 10 districts in the State were affected by heavy rain because of the onset of the North-East Monsoon and a depression in the Bay of Bengal.District Administration officials said that the Minister pointed out that though there was no serious damage in Coimbatore district because of rain, the roads were in a bad condition and these needed repairs. Weak tenements in which the urban poor lived should be demolished as these were life-threatening.Mr. Palanisamy called for vigil against flooding of low-lying areas.Silt should be removed from storm water drains to enable smooth flow of rainwater and prevent the flooding of roads and colonies. Mayor R. Venkatachalam also requested for funds from the Government for de-silting the drains and carrying out repairs to roads and culverts damaged by rain.
City Police Commissioner C.K. Gandhirajan stressed assistance from other agencies to the police in efforts to remove trees uprooted during rain and restore traffic. Collector Neeraj Mittal then asked the Coimbatore Corporation to rush workers and equipment to assist the police.The Collector said the administration had already given instructions to make note of the damage to crops, property, roads and other infrastructure so that the details could be sent immediately to the Commissioner of Revenue Administration in Chennai for the release of funds for calamity relief.Pollachi Sub-Collector Vijay Pingle, District Revenue Officer S. Prabhakaran and highways, agriculture and Public Works Department (PWD) officials attended the meeting. Later, the Minister inspected the Vellalore Tank, about 10 km south of the city.
