Puducherry: A four-member high-level central team led by joint secretary (home affairs) Chittaranjan Das conducted a field inspection across the Yanam region on Monday to assess the destruction caused by very severe cyclonic storm Arnab. The storm, which crossed the coast between Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, Puducherry’s enclave, about 800km from its headquarters on Oct 28 and 29, left a trail of destruction.The visit comes in the wake of chief minister N Rangasamy’s letter to Union home minister Amit Shah requesting an immediate interim relief allocation of ₹50 crore for the storm-hit Yanam region.The inspection commenced with a review meeting in which regional administrator Shivaraj Meena outlined extensive damage to agriculture, fisheries, power, housing, tourism and other sectors caused by the storm. The team later inspected electric poles uprooted and power lines and houses damaged by the storm in Yanam. The delegation directly evaluated crop destruction, focusing on inundated paddy fields and flattened coconut plantations.The delegation, which concluded its survey and left Yanam on the same day, will submit a detailed report shortly to the Union govt to determine the final relief and rehabilitation funds for Yanam.The other members of the central team comprised additional commissioner (agriculture) Prashant Armorikar, assistant director (finance) Himalaya Garg and deputy director (power) Pranay Garg.District collector A Kulothungan, secretary (IT) Anoop Thakur, chief engineer (public works) Veeraselvam, director (fisheries) Mohamed Ismail, and director (agriculture) Jaisankar accompanied the central team during the field visits.
