As many as 31 people died in rain-related incidents in four districts.
Chennai:
The blame game between the Center and Tamil Nadu over devastating floods in the state’s southern districts escalated on Friday, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman claiming that the Met Office had issued an advance warning and questioned the steps taken by the DMK government. This led to a strong reaction from the DMK, which accused her of “obtaining information from WhatsApp University”.
As many as 31 people died in rain-related incidents in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Kanyakumari and Tenkasi districts, according to Ms. Sitharaman.
The first batch was launched on Thursday, when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief MK Stalin said the Meteorological Department had issued an alert for extremely heavy rainfall only on December 17, the day the floods began in the districts.
“Only on December 17 did the Meteorological Department warn of very heavy rains on the 17th and 18th,” Stalin said during a visit to flood-affected areas.
Responding to Stalin’s claims, Ms. Sitharaman on Friday said that the Regional Meteorological Center in Chennai has advanced equipment and has forecast rainfall in the four districts on December 17 at least five days ahead of schedule.
“The information was given as early as December 11 and 12. They issued an alert that very heavy rain would fall from December 14 to 17 in these areas. They gave a cycle of warnings every five days. So, Anyone who claims they did so said the Finance Minister: “If we did not receive prior warnings we should take that into account.”
The DMK then responded with a “WhatsApp University” jibe, which is often used by BJP critics to suggest that the party’s IT cell and ecosystem are spreading misinformation on social media.
“If Nirmala speaks as a BJP politician, she got information from their ‘WhatsApp University’. If she speaks as a minister, she has no control over the facts,” DMK spokesperson A Saravanan said.
NDTV’s analysis of alerts issued by the Met Office found no mention of very heavy or very heavy rainfall on either December 11 or 12. Very heavy rainfall alerts began to be issued on 14 December, and only in the afternoon of 17 December – after heavy rain. Bombardment of the southern regions began – and a very heavy rain alert was issued.
“Only on December 18, the Met department tweeted a red alert. It was an orange alert until December 17,” Saravanan added.
hiring
While Ms. Sitharaman said the Center had deployed helicopters, the National Disaster Response Force and the Army for Rescue and Relief, the DMK responded by saying that the government was duty bound to do so and could not show it to be known as if it were. It is done in a foreign country.
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thenarasu said: “Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has humiliated the people of Tamil Nadu. Her language is like dealing with an enemy country in war.”
Prime Minister Stalin demanded that the successive floods in the state be declared a national disaster. He has also sought a Rs 12,000-crore flood relief package for Chennai and adjoining areas that were inundated after Cyclone Mechung, and Rs 2,000-crore interim relief for southern districts.
The Center has released Rs 450 crore as part of the Rs 900-crore annual dues under the state’s disaster response fund, but there is no additional money for damages caused by the recent floods yet.
“There is no such thing as a national disaster. Even the Uttarakhand disaster was not called a national disaster,” Ms. Sitharaman said.
He also criticized Finance Minister Stalin for attending the All India bloc meeting in New Delhi when southern Tamil Nadu was reeling from the effects of heavy rains. “When we deployed NDRF forces, he was in Delhi,” she said. Stalin also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to release relief funds, the DMK said.
