Sitharaman stated that despite IMD’s prediction occurring five days ago, the administration had not learned anything from the 2015 Chennau disaster and was blaming IMD.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman took a jab at Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday, stating that Stalin was in Delhi attending the INDIA bloc meeting during the period when Tamil Nadu was experiencing intense rain. Stalin had claimed that IMD had neglected to warn of the severe rainfall that had killed thirty-one people. According to the finance minister, IMD issued the prediction on December 12 itself.

According to Sitharaman, the Regional Meteorological Centre in Chennai, which is equipped with state-of-the-art machinery, including three dopplers, issued a forecast on December 12 predicting that there will be heavy rainfall on December 17 in the four districts of Tenkasi, Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, and Tuticorin.

Sitharaman stated in a news conference on Friday that while the Centre gave Tamil Nadu ₹900 crore in the current fiscal year to address the devastation brought on by intense rains and flooding, the government had not taken any lessons from the 2015 Chennai floods. “On December 18, we received the news. I spoke with Home Minister Amit Shah right away and asked for steps for the four districts,” Sitharaman stated, noting that Stalin’s request to designate the floods in Tamil Nadu a national calamity was not possible.

Stalin, according to Nirmala Sitharaman, arrived at the impacted districts four days later since he was preoccupied in Delhi and had not arrived before officers from the central agencies.

In April 2023, the initial balance of Tamil Nadu’s Social Depositories Fund (SDRF) was ₹813.15 crore at the start of the current fiscal year. The first tranche of ₹450 crore, out of the total ₹900 crore allotted to TN, has already been released. Prior to the cyclone, the second instalment, worth ₹450 crore, was also released. Thus, we have given Tamil Nadu the full ₹900 crore that was set aside for this year,” she stated.

Following the press conference, Nirmala Sitharaman took to X to claim that, during the UPA’s rule and that of the DMK, even the 2004 tsunami was not deemed a national calamity. ” In India, it is not normal for any government to declare a disaster to be a national disaster at any time, in any state. Even the December 2004 Tsunami (UPA with partner DMK) was not labelled a national disaster because of the high level of interest in TN, according to Sitharaman’s statement.

Source – https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/nirmala-sitharamans-delhi-dig-at-stalin-over-flood-imd-forecast-on-dec-12-101703254797640.html