Cyclone Hudhud: Power restoration in Vizag may take time

An overturned pushcart kiosk on the main road of Seethammadhara as cyclone Hudhud croosed the coast in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘Hudhud’ disrupted power lines across the north coastal districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.

The cyclonic storm caused extensive damage, blacking out all the four districts and also parts of West Godavari, and the officials are saying that it will take some time to restore power.

Not specifying the actual time required, the Chairman and Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited, M.V. Seshagiri Babu, informed The Hindu that it might take at least 48 hours to restore power in some of the areas. But sources say that it will take at least a week to get back some normalcy.

The wind speed that hovered around 180 to 200 kmph from morning to late in the evening, brought down about 12,000 poles in Visakhapatnam city alone and it is estimated to be over 40,000 in the three districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram, said Mr. Seshagiri Babu. “This is only an initial assessment, it takes some time to get the full and correct details,” he said.

Key power stations down

The main 400 KV substation at Kalapaka of AP Transco, from where power is supplied to Visakhapatnam, has been extensively damaged. “This is the main cause of concern for us, as it will take some time to restore it,” said APEPDCL Director (operations) Rama Mohan Rao.

Even the alternate source of 220 KV Visakha Switching Station of Power Grid is damaged and unless that is restored there can be no power supply. “The initial focus is to restore the 220 KV and if that comes live, we can supply power to the 130 KV stations and supply to areas such as Gajuwaka and Pendurthi. And then only we will be able to route the power to the other 33 KV sub stations in the districts,” Mr. Rama Mohan Rao said.

Bigger challenge

The bigger challenge for APEPDCL is to restore the lines and poles. Most of the main and service lines pass below the trees and tens of thousands of trees have fallen down, bringing down the lines. A few of the high tension poles have also fallen down in the impact.

“Before restoring the power, each line and pole has to be tested, as there could be a chance of short circuit or the poles getting live. It is a huge task and about 5,000 people including officers are on the job,” said Mr. Seshagiri Babu.