Chennai, Nov 14 (BPNS)

Tamil Nadu revenue minister, KKSSR Ramachandran has said that encroachment on water bodies and construction of houses on paddy fields are the reasons for heavy flooding in Kanniyakumari district. He was speaking to reporters at Kanniyakumari on Sunday after inspecting the waterlogged areas and the destruction caused by the rains.

Minister said that several roads in Kanniyakumari and Suchindram areas are totally damaged and that the situation was quite grim.

While inspecting flooded areas in Suchindram, minister said that the government would look into the encroachments. He also said that the assessment of the damage done by the heavy rains and floods would be done after rain subsides. On Sunday also it is raining heavily in Kanniyakumari district.

In Suchindram, the minister found that water has entered the homes constructed after leveling paddy fields. Water also entered the Thanumalayanswamy temple.

The minister said that he would take a tour of all the flood-affected areas of the district and take an on-the-spot assessment of the situation and the number of people and families who were evacuated from the area. Relief camps are opened in the district for those who were living in low-lying areas of the district and whose houses were inundated in water.