We are witnessing leading Kollywood stars extending their support to the victims of Gaja cyclone, by donating huge sum of money and essential needs and goods. Superstar Rajinikanth, Vijay, Vikram, Suriya, Karthi, Jyothika, Vijay Sethupathi, Sivakarthikeyan, are few of those stars who have made generous donations.
On those lines, actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam chief, Kamal Haasan revealed that his party has delivered relief materials and daily needs/goods worth Rs 1.2 crores to the people in the delta regions who are affected by the cyclone. An official press statement from MNM was released earlier this morning, that also had few suggestions to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
The press statement reads, "On 22nd November, 2018, Makkal Needhi Maiam president Mr.Kamal Haasan met members of the media at Trichy as part of his personal visit of the areas affected by Gaja cyclone. During this meeting he reiterated the fact that Makkal Needhi Maiam members and volunteers have been on the field in all affected districts to gauge the true extent of the damage caused and to provide aid and assistance in any way possible for the affected persons.
He also mentioned that relief material worth Rs.1.2 crores has been collected and dispatched to the affected areas in 60-70 vehicles today alone by Makkal Needhi Maiam's members. Further he mentioned the following recommendations to the State Government in the background of the proposed meeting between the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and The Prime Minister of India today.
• The Prime Minister and other relevant Central Ministers need to visit the affected regions immediately to gauge the situation and take necessary steps to enhance the relief process rather than the Chief Minister of the affected state visiting Delhi.
• Hon'ble Chief Minister needs to request the Hon'ble Prime Minister to declare Gaja cyclone as an L3 National Disaster as defined in National Disaster Management Authority Guidelines in order to enable proper availability of resources. This is necessary since the present disaster requires assistance from Central Government resources in the form of financial and Personnel assistance.
• The quantum of funds being requested from the Central Government seems to be an arbitrary figure and no information has been released about the results of The Post Disaster Need Assessment for this disaster which is the basis to determine the required amount of funds.
• The Governments at the Centre and the State must ensure focussed steps such as, waiver of crop loans for the affected farmers, grant of Crop insurance award at the earliest, enhanced compensation for all standing crops specifically coconut trees . At present a meagre amount of Rs.1100 has been offered as compensation which is broken down as Rs.600 for the tree itself and Rs.500 for removal of the damaged tree.
• Enhanced compensation amount to the tune of Rs.20 lakhs as opposed to the Rs.10 lakhs being offered presently for those deceased in the disaster needs to be announced. Similarly the compensation amounts declared for Serious Injuries and Minor Injuries needs to be enhanced to Rs.10 and 5 lakhs respectively.
• Such natural disasters have become a recurring malady for the fishermen of the state but no concrete measures have been undertaken by the Government to provide long term sustainable solutions to the fishermen community.
• Larger awareness needs to be created regarding global environmental issues such as Global warming and Rising mean sea levels and warnings issues by international agencies and experts on these issues need to be given the consideration they deserve in order to be more prepared to face such natural calamities in the future.
• The need of the hour is immediate relief in terms of restoration of water and electricity supply along with adequate food and proper shelter as many in the affected areas don't even have a roof over their heads and have lost their homes in this disaster. The need of the hour is ACTION and not mere announcements."
*press statement is not spell-checked