Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena on Friday said schools and colleges in Chennai, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, and Kancheepuram districts will reopen on Monday. They have remained closed throughout this week because of the impact of Cyclone Michaung.
Efforts will be made over the next two days to clear any water stagnation in the school and college premises. The campuses will be cleaned, and the functioning of sanitary facilities will be ensured by Monday, he added. When pointed out that many schools and colleges were being used as relief centres, he said there would not be any need for these relief centres by Monday.
Addressing journalists after inspecting some of the areas in Chennai where waterlogging continued for more than three days, he said that around 99.5% of the city was clear from any water stagnation as of Friday. Waterlogging in a few places in north and south Chennai would be cleared in a day.
While bus transport and milk supply have returned to normal levels, power supply would be restored in all places by Friday. He said only 0.04% of the around 18,000 distribution transformers in the core of city were wet to be operational.
Be polite and courteous
In a letter to all officials, Mr. Meena appreciated their commendable work in the relief efforts and reiterated the array of measures to be taken to reach total normalcy from the present situation, which is “near normal”.
Among the several points he mentioned, there was an appeal to all officials who were involved in the relief work to be polite and courteous to the public and avoid any arguments or confrontations by keeping in mind that they were working to mitigate the hardships of the affected people. Pointing out that the efforts of the administration should be visible, he stressed the need for creating adequate awareness about rescue, relief, and restoration activities.
He asked the officials to focus on the cleaning of garbage and garden waste, ensuring the functioning of community toilets, and carrying out fogging and other vector control measures. He said that relief material from other districts should be distributed in a systematic and transparent manner to the affected people.
