PM visits Vizag, announces Rs 1,000 crore package for cyclone-hit Andhra
VISAKHAPATNAM/HYDERABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a package of Rs 1,000 crore for cyclone-hit Andhra Pradesh.
The Prime Minister also announced an amount of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of those who died in the cyclone, and Rs 50,000 for the injured.
"The central government is with Andhra Pradesh government in this hour of crisis," said Modi who reviewed the damage done by the cyclone on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister arrived here on Tuesday afternoon to visit cyclone-hit Visakhapatnam and other parts of north coastal Andhra.
Soon after landing at Visakhapatnam airport, he inspected the facility extensively damaged by cyclonic storm Hudhud on Sunday. Officials briefed him about the damages.
Andhra Pradesh governor ESL Narasimhan, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, central government ministers M Venkaiah Naidu and Ashok Gajapati Raju received him at the airport.
The chief minister earlier said he would brief the Prime Minister of the situation and give him details of the devastation caused by the cyclone.
Visakhapatnam remains without power, essential commodities
People in the cyclone-ravaged town of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh continue to live without electricity and communication facilities for the third day in the row since Sunday. The scarcity of drinking water, milk and other essential commodities have added to the woes of this port town.
Two days after the severe cyclonic storm Hudhud battered the coastline, the city of 18 lakh people remained in darkness and mostly deprived of potable water. Piped potable water supplies have run out, too. Motor pumps installed in homes and apartments aren't running, with power supply yet to be restored.
The authorities haven't been able to supply water in tankers either, the citizens complained. Cashing in on the situation are greedy retailers, selling 20 litre water bottles for Rs 300 each.
Women carrying children too are running around to buy milk, some of them standing in long queues. In some areas, half-litre packets of milk were sold at Rs 50 each, which is twice their actual price.
With roads connecting the city to neighbouring districts yet to be cleared, supplies of milk and other essential commodities still remain cut off.
Mobile phones remain dead here for the third day in a row, with telecom services yet to be restored. ATM machines aren't working either.
Visakhapatnam, the largest city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, still sports a war-ravaged look with streets blocked by uprooted trees, toppled electricity poles and communication towers, mangled wires, shattered pieces of glass and other kinds of debris.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are still working towards clearing the roads. Officials said power supply may be restored by Tuesday evening.
Naidu orders arrest of telecom officials to restore services
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday asked the police to arrest officials of telecom service providers if they failed to restore services in the city.
Naidu, who has been camping in the city since Monday, was visibly unhappy with the functioning of telecom companies. "I have asked police to arrest them and bring them to meetings for review of the situation," Naidu told reporters on Tuesday.
(Boats washed ashore in the storm lie in a mangled heap on Vizag beach.)
Warning of harsh measures, the chief minister said he wanted communication facilities to be restored by Wednesday.
"People are in distress. These companies have to come to their rescue. They can't just make profits when people are happy and desert them when they are in trouble," Naidu said.
(Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu had to take shelter under an umbrella while surveying the havoc wreaked by cyclone Hudhud.)
The chief minister said he wants officials to explain the delay in the restoration of services and brief him by Tuesday evening about measures taken in this regard.
The cyclone which hit the coastline on Sunday at a speed of 185kmph claimed 21 lives in the three north coastal districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vijayanagaram.
About 600,000 people are currently sheltered in government relief camps in the three districts and adjoining East Godavari. The cyclone has damaged nearly 7,000 houses, cut off power supply and paralysed communication and transport networks.
State-owned Road Transport Corporation (RTC) has resumed services in some parts of the region. However, train services remain affected for the third day while air services to and from Visakhapatnam are yet to be resumed.
In Srikakulam district, which also remains without electricity, few villages remain marooned, and some low-lying areas in Srikakulam town remain inundated. However, the district authorities heaved a sigh of relief as water levels receded in Nagavali and Vamsadhara rivers
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