Anitha reviews cyclone damage in Konaseema

Rajamahendravaram: Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha visited the Dr B R Ambedkar Konaseema district Collectorate on Wednesday night to review the impact of Cyclone Arnab and monitor relief and restoration measures.

She assessed the situation through the control room at the Collectorate and later inspected cyclone-hit areas within Amalapuram Municipality. She also visited rehabilitation centres at Vasalatippa village in Katrenikona mandal and reviewed the arrangements made for people affected by the cyclone.

The home minister said the government would extend full support to cyclone victims and that relief and restoration measures were being expedited under the supervision of the Chief Minister.

She said the cyclone brought strong winds of 140–160 kmph and the district recorded an average rainfall of 94 mm. Two people died in cyclone-related incidents, while around 8,000 electricity poles were reportedly damaged across the affected areas.

She said efforts were under way to restore power supply in urban areas by Thursday evening and in rural areas by Friday morning. Around 1,400 trees were uprooted in Amalapuram Municipality, prompting authorities to take up clearance operations with the support of NDRF, SDRF, police and fire services personnel.

Preliminary estimates indicated damage to paddy crops over 1.18 lakh acres, besides heavy losses to coconut and banana plantations. Crop damage assessment was scheduled to begin on Thursday. Around 450 fishing boats along the coast, including Uppada, were also estimated to have been damaged.

Anitha assured farmers and fishermen that the government would support them and urged people to follow official advisories and cooperate with relief teams.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deekshitula Subrahmanyam

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Deekshitula RV Subrahmanyam is a Staff Reporter with The Hans India, covering the erstwhile East and West Godavari districts, along with Alluri Sitarama Raju and Polavaram districts. A journalist with experience of over three decades, he began his career as a Telugu mofussil reporter in 1991. He writes extensively on politics, tribal affairs, rural development, tourism, development, and human-interest stories He is the author of the six-part Telugu prose Ramayana Sitarama Kathasudha and has received several literary and journalistic honours, including the JCI Young Writer Award, Vadlamudi Rammohan Rao Memorial Award and Madduri Annapurnayya Memorial Award.

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