Cyclone Hudhud: Flight services to resume from Vizag tomorrow, power supply partially restored

Visakhapatnam: Flight services from Visakhapatnam airport are scheduled to resume tomorrow, five days after Cyclone Hudhud hit the Andhra Pradesh coast.

"Air India will start its flight operations from tomorrow. Subsequently another nine flights by other operators may start from day after tomorrow tentatively," the Minister told mediapersons on Thursday.

The airport is being restored and all efforts are being made for operation of immigration facilities so that the international flights may start by November 1, he said.

The Minister requested passengers to cooperate, as comfort level at the airport initially would not be like pre-Hudhud strike days and air conditioning may not work.

"Our aim is to start flight operations as early as possible," he said.

The loss incurred by the airport due to the cyclone onslaught is being assessed, Raju said.

"We are also trying to get details of insurance coverage," he said.

A senior official of Civil Aviation Ministry said on Wednesday that the loss to the airport could be in the range of Rs 75 crore to Rs 80 crore.

The airport, which handles 20 flights a day including two international ones, came to a stand still after the cyclone havoc.

The airport terminal building, designed to withstand wind speed up to 150 kmph, was considerably damaged in the cyclonic storm.

A press release from Civil Aviation Ministry said due to the cyclone, a large portion of the terminal building, including glass, roof-top covering, air-conditioning, computer system, communication systems and electrical connections, was destroyed at the terminal.

However, as a result of the precautionary measures there was no loss of life or injury to any person at the airport.

Various temporary measures were being set up, such as provision of water-proof covering for the passengers, opening of four counters for checking and food counters, the release said.

Raju said the radar antenna, which was completely damaged will be replaced and made functional within a month.

According to media reports, an Air India flight is scheduled to land late in the afternoon from New Delhi and take off an hour later for Hyderabad.

Power supply has been partially restored in Visakhapatnam district and mobile communication services have also significantly improved, bringing some relief to the people facing harrowing times after Sunday's devastating Cyclone Hudhud.

A senior official of Eastern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Limited said two lakh power connections were likely to be restored on Thursday.

"Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts are ready to be provided with power supply. We are waiting for the transmission towers to be set right. ERS (emergency restore system) has been brought in from Chhattisgarh. By evening, power can be resumed to most parts of these two districts," the official said.

Power has been restored in 10 per cent of urban areas of Visakhapatnam district, Collector N Yuvaraj said on Thursday.

A senior official of Indus Towers, a three-way joint venture between Airtel, Idea and Vodafone, said power supply has been provided to all strategic and important towers in East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.

Indus provides infrastructure facilities like towers and power supply to the three telecom service providers.

"East Godavari has been restored fully. In Srikakulam and Vizianagaram, power supply to the towers has been restored up to 80 per cent. In Visakhapatnam, power supply has been restored to 70 per cent of total 330 towers," the Indus official said.

The towers are now running with diesel generator supplied power, he said.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who has been camping in Visakhapatnam and other cyclone-hit districts to oversee relief operations, has said that essential commodities will be given free at all fair price shops in these districts.

The government is transporting vegetables from other districts in the state to Visakhapatnam to ensure that there is no shortage of supply.

Water was being supplied to the residents of Visakhapatnam by tankers and efforts were on to resume supply by pipelines, officials said.

Rail and bus services have already been restored to Visakhapatnam. The state disaster management department said in a statement that 37 people were reported killed in different rain-related incidents till yesterday evening.

Naidu had earlier put the rough estimate of losses at about Rs 70,000 crore due to the cyclone.