Cyclone Hudhud has not only plunged the three districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram into total darkness but also snapped communication, be it mobile or landline, for the third consecutive day.
The only saving grace has been the landline connectivity of BSNL. But even that has taken a beating, as about 15 of the exchanges of the 70 have been damaged, including the big ones at Kirlampudi and Bheemunipatnam.
According to Chief General Manager BSNL, Andhra Pradesh, V. Srinivasan, it would take about a week to restore all the exchanges, but as of now about 70 per cent are working.
Another challenge that the telecom major has been facing is power. All the exchanges need power and that is not available.
“We have been functioning on diesel generator sets, but DG sets cannot run indefinitely,” he said.
Coming to cell towers, 305 out of 325 were damaged on Sunday, when Hudhud had struck. But by Tuesday, 225 were restored and they intend to get another 50 ready by Wednesday night, said BSNL General Manager R.M.M. Krishna.
Coming to other private operators, most of them function on battery back-up and till the power is restored they will have problem in restoring transmission.