The Hudhud cyclone, which has ravaged north coastal Andhra Pradesh, has forced majority of the IT firms to shut down operations for the second consecutive day in Visakhapatnam.
Mostly focussed on three hillocks on the seashore, companies such as Tech Mahindra and Cyient bore the brunt of the heavy winds and rains that hit the power supply and telecommunication networks.
With winds lashing the city with a speed of 200 km per hour, the entire power, mobile and road infrastructure was damaged, forcing people to stay indoors. The cyclone hit the coast on Sunday morning.
“We downed power and routers at 10.30 a.m. yesterday. We are yet to restore the activity,” BVR Mohan Reddy, Executive chairman of Cyient (formerly Infotech Enterprises), told BusinessLine.
The IT industry is in a nascent stage here with total revenues of about ₹1,000 crore. The Government of Andhra Pradesh has positioned the port city as an IT destination. It recently started a start-hub, with a view to encourage the fledgling IT ecosystem.
“We shifted some associates working on critical jobs to other locations. But work on the location has been impacted since yesterday. Only a few of the staff could turn up for work,” a Tech Mahindra spokesperson said.