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Major PSU industrial units in Vizag and the two ports - Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram - are still at a standstill as on Wednesday, and the officials are making efforts to revive them and bring them back to normal. However, power was not restored and the telecommunication system continued to be in a disarray.
Ajay Jain, State Energy Secretary, said here on Wednesday morning that it would take at least four to five days to restore power supply and on a priority basis, APEPDCL was trying to provide power to hospitals first and to the municipal corporation for water supply.
"The situation is pretty bad. The transmission system has suffered huge damage, roughly estimated at Rs 1,000 crore. We still have not made a final estimate. Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (APEPDCL) here has sufffered at a rough estimate a loss of Rs 700 crore and AP Transco (Transmission Corporation) Rs 300 crore," he said.
He added that the staff and officials were working round-the-clock to restore power supply. But it would take sometime and it was unavoidable. Power would be restored in a phased manner.
Vizag steel plant damage
Officially, there is no word from the Visakhapatnam steel plant authorities on the extent of damage or the present status but it is learnt from the State Government officials that the plant suffered a loss of Rs 700-750 crore at a rough estimate and the production was stopped from Sunday. Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL) and other PSUs were in a similar position.
The HPCL refinery stopped production since Sunday and power generation also came to a halt at all the four units at the Simhadri thermal station of NTPC (each unit with a capacity of 500 MW). Gangavaram and Visakhapatnam ports also suffered heavy losses and cargo-handling came to a halt.
It is learnt that the Naval establishments here also suffered a huge loss, but it is yet to enumerated.
Milk supply position in the city improved in the city on Wednesday and essentials such as vegetables were also available, although at much higher prices than normal, and most of the roads were being cleared of the debris by the local residents, corporation staff, and the NDRF teams.
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