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The employees of the AP Eastern Power Distribution Corporation (APEPDCL), the Power Grid Corporation and AP Transco are working round the clock to restore power to the districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram in the aftermath of cyclone Hudhud.
Energy Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Ajay Jain said till now 20 per cent of the work had been completed in Visakhapatnam city and about 8-12 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 4-5 days in phases.
According to Chairman of Power Grid Corporation RN Nayak, one 500-MW unit of NTPC Simhadri might become 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 where we have been able to supply power to the feeders in Mindhi, Narava and Padmanabhapuram to enable the corporation to pump drinking water to some areas in Visakhapatnam,” he said.
Power in the railway lines between Duvvada and Simhachalam railway station 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.
Efforts are on to supply power to the substations at Pendurthi and Garividi, so that power can be restored in the districts of Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. “We are also leasing 20 MW of power from Odisha for the two districts,” said Jain.
ChallengesThe bigger challenge for the power companies is to charge the substations at Nakavanipalem, Common Point, Naval Wharf and Port area in Visakhapatnam city. About 4-5 high-tension towers have collapsed and are submerged and efforts are on to pump out the water to erect the towers.
While charging the substations has been one part of the restoration work, APEPDCL has been working on a war footing to erect the 20,000-odd poles that have collapsed and rectify the 7,500 damaged transformers.
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