A week after the very severe Cyclone Hudhud caused havoc, power restoration is slowly bringing normalcy in Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts.
The herculean task of removing the large number of trees and branches that brought down thousands of electric poles was almost completed and restoring power through Emergency Restoration System (ERS) towers brought from the Power Grid Corporation of India is on.
However, the number of houses that got back power, as one goes by the complaints received from different parts of the city and the two districts, does not tally with what the Chief Minister and other officials claimed.
Before leaving for Hyderabad on Sunday, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu informed that power supply to 10 lakh out of 23 lakh households in the purview of EPDCL has resumed.
Two 400 KV substations that were not working were revived with ERS and six out of ten 229 KV, 24 out of 25 132 KV substations, 230 out of 311 33 KV substations and 750 out of 1,177 11 KV substations have also been revived.
Physical inspection of 2,700 km long 33 KV lines, 18,000 km of 11 KV lines, 42,000 km of LT lines and 55,000 DTRs is needed.
Meanwhile, as many as 700 villages, apart from mandal headquarters, are still under darkness in Srikakulam district despite the efforts of EPDCL to restore power supply. Power cuts have become common during nights due to the huge gap between demand and supply. Over 500 uprooted poles in 11 mandals have to be restored. Teams from Odisha are extending help in undoing the damage that the cyclone has done.
EPDCL officials said power was being supplied through 132 KV lines instead of 220 KV lines. The supply was meant for domestic consumption. Industries should depend on generators for next few days. “I request residents not to use ACs and other facilities since the supply is limited. We can extend supply to mandals and villages when restoration is fully completed,” said EPDCL superintending engineer P.V.V. Satyanarayana.
