Chennai, Dec 7 (IANS): An inter-ministerial team of the Centre has begun assessing the damage caused by Cyclone Fengal in various districts of Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

The Tamil Nadu government has submitted an initial assessment report estimating a need for Rs 2,475 crore in relief.

Chief Minister Stalin had earlier requested Rs 2,000 crore in interim relief.

The Centre has already sanctioned Rs 944 crore as interim relief for the flood-affected regions.

The central team will conduct its surveys on Saturday and Sunday.

The team, which arrived in Chennai on Friday evening, met Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at the state secretariat.

Led by Rajesh Gupta, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the team held a meeting with senior state government officials to finalise the sites to be inspected.

The other members of the team include K. Ponnusamy (Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare), Sonamani Haobam (Union Ministry of Finance), R. Saravanan (Union Ministry of Jal Shakti), Dhanapalan Kumaran (Union Ministry of Road Transport), Rahul Bachkheti (Union Ministry of Power), Balajee K.M. (Union Ministry of Rural Development).

Following the meeting, the team planned to survey the districts of Villupuram, Cuddalore, Kallakurichi, Tiruvannamalai, Dharmapuri, and Krishnagiri starting Saturday.

Given that Cyclone Fengal has affected 14 districts, with at least half severely impacted, the central team is expected to split into three or four groups to conduct the damage assessment efficiently.

The team will also inspect the Union Territory of Puducherry, which has suffered significant damage to infrastructure and agricultural land.

In preparation for the visit, Puducherry District Collector A. Kulothungan convened a meeting at the Collectorate, instructing officials to prepare detailed damage reports.

Cyclone Fengal has directly affected 1.5 crore people across 14 districts, displacing 69 lakh families and causing 40 fatalities.

Additionally, 3,000 head of cattle and 2.5 lakh poultry were lost.

Heavy rainfall exceeding 50 centimeters in a single day submerged several districts, including Villupuram, Cuddalore, Tiruvannamalai, and Kallakurichi.

Other affected areas include Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Vellore, Ranipet, and Krishnagiri.

The State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) is the primary fund available to states for disaster response.

The Union government contributes 75 per cent of the SDRF allocation for general category states and 90 per cent for special category states and union territories (such as the Northeastern states, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir).

As per Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) supplements the SDRF in cases of severe disasters if the SDRF lacks adequate funds.

However, states must submit utilisation certificates before receiving additional allocations.