Hudhud aftermath: Officials put Hudhud loss at over Rs 1 lakh crore

Hudhud has caused huge damage to residential properties, national highways, state government assets and agricultural crops

Devastating cyclone Hudhud, which hit the Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coastline on October 12, has caused a loss in excess of Rs 1 lakh crore in three districts — Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and East Godavari — in Andhra Pradesh, according to a state government official.

Hudhud, considered to be the country’s first urban cyclone and the worst disaster that the port city of Vizag had ever seen, has caused a damage of more than Rs 200 crore to Vizag port, around Rs 2,500 crore to the Indian Navy and Rs 700 crore to the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.

“These are all preliminary assessments. Hudhud has caused huge damage, not just to the industry, but also to residential properties, national highways, state government assets, and agricultural and horticulture crops. It will take some more time to arrive at the exact losses caused by a cyclone of this magnitude,” IT and communications adviser to Andhra Pradesh, Parakala Prabhakar, told Business Standard.

At a press conference at the Vizag Collectorate today, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the government would form enumeration teams with senior officials, and they could get details of the exact losses once these teams do a proper enumeration.

Stating that they already had a control room system in Hyderabad, Naidu said the state was now monitoring the current situation via the chief secretary and using best-in-class technologies.

Fishing community incurs Rs 40 crore loss

The Visakhapatnam fishing harbour, which provides direct and indirect employment to over 50,000 locals, has seen a loss of Rs 40 crore due to cyclone Hudhud. Vizag fishing harbour has 650 mechanised boats and around 100 trawlers. The cyclone has damaged 450 boats and washed away 70, said Ch Satyanarayana Murthy, president of Visakha Dolphin Boat Operators Association.

Each mechanised boat costs anywhere between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 40 lakh while a trawler costs between Rs 8 crore and Rs 10 crore.

“On normal days, each mechanised boat brings in a catch of one to two tonne of shrimp and four to five tonne of fish on a 15-day voyage. We are still in deep shock and nobody is willing to take a voyage,” he said, adding that these mechanised boats were not covered by insurance.

Citizens’ woes continue

The citizens of the port city, as Vizag is popularly known, are still facing many problems even as it is limping back to normalcy. “We are still enveloped in darkness and we are not sure when the electricity and communication networks would be restored. We are still living in a miserable situation with lack of water, milk supplies and other necessities,” said Appala Narasaiah, a carpenter by profession.