life in cyclone Hudhud battered Visakhapatnam was limping back to normalcy today with resumption of adequate supplies of essential commodities and gradual restoration of power and communication but the situation in northern coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh remained grim.
Three days of acute shortage of essential supplies came to an end in this city today and public transportation services was back on track after remaining suspended since Sunday when the cyclone had slammed the state.
The residents of Visakhapatnam faced a lot of hardships as electricity and essential items like milk were not available and communication network having virtually collapsed due to the devastation caused by the cyclone.
Power supply to hospitals, drinking water supply and railway traction was extended last evening, an official said, adding "till now, we have been able to extend 12 per cent power supply to entire Visakhapatnam district and about 20 per cent in Visakhapatnam city."
While normal train services, especially towards Visakhapatnam, resumed as the breaches in rail tracks caused by the cyclone in Vijayawada Division, have been plugged, flight services from the city airport is expected to be partially operational from Saturday.
"Almost all the train South Central Railway services towards Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneshwar operated normally today. long distance express trains towards destinations in eastern parts (Bhubaneshwar, Howrah and beyond), passing through SCR, were run on their scheduled normal route (via Visakhapatnam)," an SCR release said here.
Restoration work at the airport, which was in a shambles after the cyclone that damaged the passenger terminals and blew away rooftops, is going on in full swing, a civil aviation ministry official said. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, camping in the city to oversee relief operations, has directed officials to supply packaged food items like rice, dal, edible oil and vegetables to cyclone-hit people free of cost.
However, the situation in north coastal districts is still grim and all efforts are being made to bring back normalcy as far as power supply is concerned, Naidu told reporters here. Nearly 8,000 houses and more than 8,300 electric poles and transformers were damaged in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts in the nature's fury.
Most parts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam had plunged into darkness as thousands of trees were uprooted and fell on transmission lines causing power disruptions following the cyclonic storm. Naidu said power is expected to be partially restored in some places by tomorrow.
As far as communication is concerned, the Chief Minister said he is talking to mobile service providers and expects services to resume immediately.
The exact financial loss due to the cyclone is yet to be ascertained, Naidu said but added that initial estimates indicate that it can go up to Rs 70,000 crore.
"It is very difficult to assess the damage and loss caused by the cyclone. We are still getting reports whether it (total losses in all cyclone-hit districts) is Rs 60,000 crore or Rs 70,000 crore. We cannot come to a figure now," he said adding central teams (for assessment of losses) are expected to arrive in Andhra Pradesh in a day or two, he said.