Even as the flood situation in some southern districts in Tamil Nadu remained grim, district authorities managed to pull out 81 bodies in the two bus mishaps that occurred in Ramanathapuram and Thanjavur districts on Friday. Relief and rescue operations were stepped up in flood ravaged districts of Cuddalore and Thanjavur. The toll in the recent flood has reached 230.Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa today visited Cuddalore, where many areas were cut off due to breaches in the jungle streams and lakes. Armed forces dropped food packets in the flood-hit areas.In Thanjavur district, about 70,000 people from low-lying areas were shifted to relief camps, district collector.Eleven more bodies of those killed when a bus proceeding to Arantangi from Pattukottai in Thanjavur was swept away by flood were fished out from near the sea shore, he said. In all 52 bodies had been found.In the second mishap, a bus fell into Sirugani river near Tiruvadanai in Ramanathapuram district. Ramanathapuram district collector, K Sellamuthu, said that 29 bodies, including 14 women and two children, were pulled out. Jayalalithaa announced a solatium of Rs. 50,000 each to families of those who died in the mishaps, Rs. 15,000-6,000 to the injured.Jayalalithaa, in letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has sought Rs 3,000 crore for rescue and rehabilitation efforts.
