Naidu Orders Power Back, Roads Clear After Montha
The cyclone effect encompassed 18 lakh people of 1434 villages and 48 municipalities. Crops in 87,000 hectares in 304 mandals were damaged.
Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said that Cyclone Montha caused extensive damage across Andhra Pradesh, leaving a trail of destruction through the coastal districts.
Naidu conducted an aerial survey of the affected regions to assess the extent of devastation before visiting Allavaram mandal in Ambedkar Konaseema district to inspect relief and rehabilitation measures.
He said, “With prior planning, preparedness and collective effort of officials and people's representatives, we successfully faced the challenges of the Montha cyclone and minimized the damage. Priority was to ensure there would be no loss of life and property. However, the cyclone resulted in damage to crops in the Konaseema region, while agricultural lands were submerged in Nellore, Prakasam and Bapatla districts.”
Naidu, who monitored the cyclone effect till late at night on Tuesday, conducted an aerial survey Wednesday morning through Nellore, Prakasam, Palnadu and Konaseema regions. Sans protocol, he visited the rehabilitation centre in Allavaram mandal in Konaseema district and interacted with the people.
The Chief Minister distributed 25kg of rice and essential commodities to each affected family and interacted with them.
Later, he inspected the waterlogged paddy fields in Aragatlapalem and Bandarulanka villages and enquired with the farmers about crop damage. When the farmers sought clearance of weeds for effective functioning of the drainage system, the CM directed the officials to immediately take up the work.
Immediately after completing the aerial survey, Naidu reached the RTGS centre at the secretariat here and conducted a review with officials on cyclone damage. He enquired with the officials about the damage and loss caused by the cyclone.
The officials informed the CM that at present, there was no rainfall in several districts due to the weakening of the cyclone. Some 1209 relief centres were set up, providing temporary shelter to 1.6 lakh people.
The cyclone effect encompassed 18 lakh people of 1434 villages and 48 municipalities. Crops in 87,000 hectares in 304 mandals were damaged. Besides paddy, cotton, maize and black gram crops in 59,000 hectares were under water, causing loss to 78,796 farmers, officials said.
Power supply was interrupted due to tripping of feeders. Officials were at work restoring power supply on a war footing. Roads at a stretch of 380km and 14 bridges were damaged, resulting in a loss of `1,424 crore.
As for rural water supply, a loss of `36 crore was estimated. Officials said that 3,175 pregnant women were shifted to safe places and 2130 medical camps held. Efforts were on to remove the uprooted trees on several roads to provide free flow of traffic.
Naidu told the officials that restoration of power supply was important, as also the clearance of roads by removing uprooted trees. Priority should also be given to sanitation and clearance of clogged drains. The distribution of rice and essential commodities to people at rehabilitation centres should be speeded up, he stressed.
