Wreckage of communication system by Hudhud cyclone in Northern Andhra Pradesh has left thousands of migrant workers clueless about the safety of their family members back home in their respective villages.
The migrant workers, engaged in agriculture and allied sectors, house construction and hospitality sectors across the country, have literally lost contact with their families in three districts of North Andhra Pradesh -Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam - for the past 72 hours.
“My parents’ mobile phone went dead since Saturday. However, poor transportation facilities to reach our village is posing another hurdle to reach them or keep ourselves updated about our family and the villagea, Lenka Kantamma and her colleague Ms. Laxmi belonging to L.N. Peta village in Srikakulam district told The Hindu.
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These two women are among a dozen families working in a rice mill on the outskirts of Machilipatnam who patiently await restoration of communication system and roads in their villages located on the banks of river Vamsadhara. Tens of thousands of migrant families belonging to Srikakulam district are engaged in brick kilns, agriculture and allied sectors and hotels in Krishna district too.
Speaking to The Hindu over phone, a Chennai based migrant workers’ mestri T. Swami Babu had expressed his helplessness to know the where abouts their parents and other families who are living in Killipalem village near Srikakulam town on the bank of river Nagavali. “After cyclone Hudhud, the flood from river Nagavali is creating panic, causing inundation of villagers on the river bank. Cell phone network is still not reachable to Srikakulam district†, added Mr. Swami Babu.
However, power cut across the Northern coastal Andhra has added woes of migrant workers to get back to their families back on any mode of communication from the other end.
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