Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will visit Chennai on Saturday, following up on the December 3 visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who undertook an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas in and around the city, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha told the Lok Sabha during question hour on Friday.
The Centre has already adjudged the recent Tamil Nadu flood disaster as a calamity of “severe nature” in which at least 354 people lost their lives and over 1 lakh huts were damaged.
Sinha said the Centre had taken several ‘swift steps’ to ensure disaster relief for those affected in the recent Tamil Nadu floods.
Emergency measures As far as financial services were concerned, Sinha said several emergency steps have been taken, including the provision of micro-ATMs for cash disbursement and the insurance companies have been directed to speed up processing of claims both for residential and commercial customers.
“We also recognise that there are important industrial areas in and around Chennai. I am sure the State government will do whatever necessary to bring full normal functioning as quickly as possible. The Centre will assist in all ways possible”, Sinha said.