Personnel of APEPDCL, Power Grid Corporation and AP Transco are working round-the-clock to restore power to the three districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram. It has been the fourth day on the trot that there is total blackout, in the aftermath of cyclone Hudhud.
Unhappy with the tardy progress in the restoration work, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu visited Gajuwaka substation and AP Transco office after seeing off Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport on Tuesday evening. He urged the officials to work overtime and restore power supply to hospitals and drinking water pumping stations within 24 hours.
Energy Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Ajay Jain said that 20 per cent of the work was completed in Visakhapatnam city and eight to 12 per cent in the districts. According to him, the target is to charge the major substations in the next 48 hours and restore connections to the affected 22 lakh consumers in about four to five days, in phases.
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According to Chairman of Power Grid Corporation R.N. Nayak, one 500 MW unit of NTPC Simhadri will be operational by the early hours of Thursday.
“We have been able to rectify the 220 KV station at Visakha Switching Station and supply power to Gajuwaka substation. From there we have been able to supply power to the feeders in Mindi, Narava and Padmanabhapuram to enable the corporation to pump drinking water to some areas in the city of Visakhapatnam,” he said.
Power in the railway lines between Duvvada and Simhachalam stations has also been restored. “The focus is on restoring power to the drinking water units and hospitals, which we hope to achieve by Thursday evening,” he said.
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Meanwhile about 200 officers and about 1,000 workers from other States have joined the restoration team.
The overall initial damage is estimated to be Rs. 700 crore for APEPDCL and Rs. 300 crore for AP Transco.