Schools in Chennai reopen after a month
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS HAVE ALREADY BEEN POSTPONED BY THE GOVERNMENT
Schools and colleges in the capital and neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu reopened yesterday after a month of heavy rains and deadly floods.
After the misery brought in by the torrential rains, educational institutes were forced to close in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur and Cuddalore districts.
University examinations have already been postponed by the government.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone the civil services examinations scheduled from December 18 to 23 at least for two months to enable the students from the state to take up the examinations with “adequate preparation”.
At least 280 people died in the floods, which brought normal life to a standstill.
After torrential rains and floods forced their closure for nearly a month, schools and colleges in Chennai and its neighbouring districts reopened yesterday.
Soon after the onset of North East Monsoon in October, incessant rains hampered normal life with the city recording heavy rainfall last week that led to large areas being inundated.
Essential commodities took a hit while educational institutions were closed, particularly those in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur and Cuddalore districts.
Now, thanks to dry weather over past few days, schools and colleges have reopened.
University examinations have already been postponed by the government.
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalitha, had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone the civil services examinations, scheduled from December 18 to 23, for at least for two months to ensure students from Tamil Nadu could have “adequate preparation” time.
Change in date sheet
And the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party leader P. Venugopal made a plea to postpone them again yesterday during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha.
Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai, speaking as a AIADMK member, sought a response from Home Minister Rajnath Singh who said that he has not seen the letter Jayalalitha has written to the prime minister, but the government would do what it finds appropriate.
Helping hand
Jayalalitha yesterday also urged Modi to sanction a special scheme to construct 50,000 houses for the urban poor who need to be resettled at cost of Rs50 billion (Dh2.7 billion) as part of restoration works in rain-hit areas. Stating that the “poor and vulnerable” people, both in urban and rural areas, were worst affected, Jayalalitha said the government has undertaken an “extensive exercise” of enumerating the affected families.
“Immediate ex gratia payments are paid out of the Disaster Response Funds.
“However, this does not permanently rehabilitate them or enable reconstruction of their dwelling places,” Jayalalitha said in a letter to Modi.
Pointing out that 50,000 families living along the banks of Cooum river and Buckingham Canal were affected due to rains, she said her government would be able to accommodate 25,000 families in tenements already constructed by the Slum Clearance Board. Besides this, Jayalalitha said the government has prepared a project to construct 50,000 multistorey tenements.
“The cost of construction per unit of 380 square foot, including the cost of providing other common amenities, is expected to be Rs10 lakh [1 million] per unit. The total cost of this massive special housing project will be Rs5,000 crore [Rs50 billion],” she said.