Nine people went missing during cyclone Vardah, Chennai district collector says

CHENNAI: Two years after cyclone Vardah hit Chennai, the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday declared that nine people went missing in the calamity.
Their names have also been published. The nine missing people would be declared dead if they could not be located in the next 15 days.

In an official statement here, Chennai district collector A Shanmuga Sundram said a government order was issued for constituting a committee on August 31 this year to check the veracity of whether they went missing in cyclone Vardah on December 12, 2016.

"The committee has confirmed that they went missing during the cyclone. Henceforth, these persons are presumed to be dead," he said.

While seven among the missing people belong to Tsunami Settlement at Tondiarpet and Royapuram in North Chennai, two were natives of Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh.

The statement further said people could bring to the notice of revenue department officials in the event they are found alive, in the next 15 days.

"If they cannot be identified within this time frame, the missing people would be declared dead during cyclone Vardah," the district collector added.