Rains claim 20 lives in Tamil Nadu

Torrential rains have claimed 20 lives and caused heavy crop loss in Tamil Nadu.

Torrential rains, which have battered several parts of Tamil Nadu for the past 12 days, has claimed 20 lives and caused heavy crop loss in the state, officials in Madurai said.

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Though the exact damage to crops was being assessed by revenue and agriculture department officials, more than 1500 acres of crops are still under water, they said.

A rough official estimate put the crop loss alone at more than Rs 100 crore. The worst affected are horticulture crops, drumsticks, grape orchards, chilli, vegetables and paddy, they said.

Grape orchards and drumsticks have not been included under the government scheme for claiming relief.

The rains have also exposed the limitations of the poorly maintained tanks, as most of them in the Southern districts breached due to heavy inflows.

According to unofficial estimates, around 80 per cent of crops damaged in the rains had not been insured.

On Monday, local administration Minister M K Stalin had disbursed relief to affected people in Virudhnagar, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts and assured farmers that they would be suitably compensated for their losses.

Union minister and senior Congress leader E V K S Elangovan had said that the Rs 100 crore relief announced by the state government was inadequate as the damage was widespread and unprecedented.