Visakhapatnam: One man went against all odds on October 12, when Cyclone Hudhud hit Vizag, to ensure that the Ultra High Frequency trunking repeater atop Kailasagiri Hill is restored.
His efforts played a significant role in helping government officials, NDRF, ODRAF and other relief teams stay in touch.
V.V.J. Syama Sundara Rao, a 55-year-old inspector of police in the communications wing, stayed atop the hill for 36 hours without food and drinking water and braved 180kmph winds to restore the communication system.
When Cyclone Hudhud hit Vizag and all mobile and land lines were down, it was the conventional mode of handheld Very High Frequency (VHF) sets that kept the on-duty officials connected.
“When the room was flooded, I immediately switched off the trunking system to save equipment worth crores and switched to the conventional VHF system for 100 minutes. Later, through the repeater station at Simhachalam, I linked the VHF network and kept the link alive,” he added.
