Electricity Minister P. Thangamani on Sunday said that while power supply had been restored in municipal and town panchayat limits in cyclone-hit districts, it would take another week to restore supply in rural areas.
The restoration work in rural areas is progressing at a fast pace, and villages are expected to get electricity supply in a phased manner within a week, the Minister told mediapersons in Salem. He was in the city to hand over a solatium to the kin of C. Murugesan, a Tangedco worker hailing from Manuvakattupalayam village, who was electrocuted while working in cyclone-hit Pudukottai district.
Mr. Thangamani said that the cyclone had damaged and uprooted 1.13 lakh electric poles in the coastal districts. Tangedco had a stock of about 70,000 electric poles to meet emergencies. As the damage was beyond expectations, additional electric poles were procured from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Installing electric poles in the field was a laborious task, and incessant rain in the affected districts had exacerbated the situation, he said.
Additional help
As many as 22,000 field workers and officials were involved in the restoration work, and additional workers from Andhra Pradesh (800), Kerala (500) and Karnataka (600) had been pressed into service, the Minister said.
Tangedco alone had suffered losses to the tune of ₹1,500 crore. The Chief Minister, who sanctioned ₹1,000 crore for relief work, had allotted ₹200 crore for the State power utility.
The locals were fully cooperating with the relief operations. However, some opposition parties had been instigating them to stage agitations to tarnish the government’s image, Mr. Thangamani alleged.
The State government had announced a solatium of ₹15 lakh to the kin of Murugesan. The Minister handed over the first instalment of ₹2 lakh to P. Chinnan, the victim’s father. The remaining amount would be handed over to the bereaved family in a couple of days. The Chief Minister had also announced a government job to a member of the family.
