With devastation caused by the extremely severe cyclone Hudhud on this day in 2014 still fresh in the memory of Vizagites, it has taught many lessons including the need for well-planned disaster preparedness, strict adherence to standard operating procedure and comprehensive insurance to revive operations in the quickest possible time.
In fact, the way the people of the city showed solidarity with one another at the time of a big crisis and joined the movement to rebuild Vizag has become talking point all over the world.
“Though it was a traumatic experience, the speed with which we revived the operations — recouping within two weeks and reviving operations within a month became a case study on disaster recovery for the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad,” said former CMD of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited P. Madhusudan.
Recalling his experience when he was heading the RINL, he told The Hindu that Hudhud had devastated the steel plant township, known for its greenery.
“Thanks to RINL collective and support rendered by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, we could restart the operations scoffing rumours on leakage of hazardous gases after forcible shutdown,” he said.
Resilience proved
The way the Vizagites responded to the State government’s call to not fire crackers on Diwali as it could cause bonfire of fallen trees stored at open grounds and vacant sites won accolades from Mr. Naidu and his team of Ministers. In fact, wherever he goes, he makes it a point to cite how Vizagites recovered fast after suffering unprecedented damage with no power supply for several days.
Sarda Metals & Alloys Ltd Director Neeraj Sarda said, “For me personally Hudhud was a very humbling experience. It was for the first time, I along with my family experienced nature’s fury from close quarters as we stay right on the Beach Road.”
He said, “In our factory, almost 23 km away from the coast, Hudhud flattened 500 MT of steel shed of 80 m wide and 140 m long. This showed me the actual power of nature. Overnight, our beautiful city was ravaged and brought to a standstill. But what amazed me more was the resilience with which we bounced back as a city as well as a community overall. Today it’s difficult for anyone to believe that the city was once battered by Hudhud.
Big lesson
Sravan Shipping Services Managing Director G. Sambasiva Rao said one of the biggest lessons was to go for comprehensive insurance instead of opting for a policy only to meet the prerequisite for loans.
“Reinstate policy, which we had taken for our infrastructure like warehousing by paying higher premium, helped us getting almost 90% of our claim,” he said. At the time of tragedy, only 5% of trade and commerce in the city took reinstate policy. Moreover, properties of big establishments like the Visakhapatnam Port and the Hindustan Shipyard Ltd were not covered under adequate insurance. Those coming under the MSME sector had claimed a damage of ₹500 crore. They could revive operations in a month due to the government pressure on the insurance firms to release 50% of claim immediately.
