Almost all the industrial units and commercial establishments in Visakhapatnam city and district - big or small - were hit hard by cyclone Hudhud a week ago and they are now experiencing great hardship in getting their insurance claims settled.
This was brought out at an interaction organised here on Saturday evening by the AP Industries Department in which the representatives of the industrial units, trade and those of insurance companies participated. The meeting was presided over by AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
The Chief Minister expressed his dismay over the fact that not even a fraction of the over 1,500 insurance claims submitted till now had been settled by the insurance companies and he told them that they should expedite the settlement process and go to the rescue of their clients in the hour of distress. He instructed them to deploy more surveyors for damage assessment, avoid multiple surveys, simplify procedures and settle the claims as quickly as possible. "I expect you to settle the claims by month-end," he told them and added that he would talk to the heads of the insurance companies and he constituted a seven-member committee locally to monitor the progress of claim settlement. AP Industries Secretary J.S.V Prasad would head it.
Raju, of a maize processing unit, said he was facing a similar problem. He was not even able to dispose of the spoilt food material as fodder due to the painfully slow processes of the insurance companies.
G. Sambasiva Rao, of Sravan Shipping, said the cargoes were already rotting in the warehouses and the problem was being compounded because of the insurance delays. "I am only a custodian of the cargo, not the owner," he said.
B. Gopi, of Sankhya Technologies, an IT company, suggested that the available surveyors should be pooled and more intelligently deployed to different parts of the city and district by the companies. He said much time was being lost in travel, especially in a cyclone-hit city, as the surveyor had to cover long distances.
Industries Secretary J.S.V Prasad said the companies should get more surveyors of different grades and they should not cause more distress to their clients already reeling under the impact of the cyclone. The hassels in claim settlement should be removed and each insurance company should deploy senior officials specifically to address the task. "The J&K High Court gave a clear directive to the insurance companies after the floods to expedite claim settlement and the courts also want the companies to act fast," he said.