Telangana Sends 1,000 Power Dept Employees to Fani-Battered Odisha

The move follows Odisha government’s request for help in the aftermath of cyclone Fani that left over 40 dead.

Villagers affected by ‘Fani’ stand in queue to collect relief material at a camp in Bhubaneswar.

(Photo: PTI)  

In order to help restore power supply in areas affected by cyclone Fani, the Telangana government on Tuesday, 7 May, sent 1,000 employees of its Electricity Department to Odisha, according to The News Minute .

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao gave directions to Chief Secretary SK Joshi and Telangana Transmission Corporation Chairman and Managing Director D Prabhakar Rao for providing Odisha government with the required assistance, the report said, adding that the 1,000 employees had left for Odisha on Tuesday night.

The move follows Odisha government's request for help in the aftermath of cyclone Fani that left over 40 people dead, besides disrupting the water and power supply in the state.

Over 1.5 Lakh New Electric Poles Uprooted

Cyclone Fani has damaged five 400 kv towers, twenty seven 220 kv towers, twenty one 130 kv towers, four 220 kv grids, and four 132 kv grids in Puri, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday.

Similarly, 5,030 km of 33 kv line, 38,613 km of 11 kv line, 11,077 distribution transformers, and 79,485 km of low tension lines have been damaged in the calamity, the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) said in its situation report.

The government has sought cooperation of the power consumers and said time is required to fully restore power connection in the cyclone devastated areas. As many as 1.56 lakh new electric poles have been uprooted in the 'extremely severe' cyclone Fani.

Odisha Government Launches Relief Work in Bhubaneswar

Meanwhile, the Odisha government has launched the relief work in Bhubaneswar and issued direction to start the relief distribution in other affected districts as well.

The miseries of the people were compounded with high humidity level which soared above 90 percent in coastal districts.

Apart from water supply, lack of power supply has also hit filling stations, banking service and health services. It has reportedly affected more than 1.4 crore people in the coastal region of the state.

‘Insurance Claims May Be Well Over Rs 2,000 Crore’

Meanwhile, insurers have said that losses due to Fani touched Rs 2,000 crore with the maximum number of claims reported from crop and property insurance holders, according to a MoneyControl report on Tuesday.

“We are still assessing the damage. However, initial reports peg the losses around Rs 2,000 crore. This could well be revised upwards since several claims of property destruction are coming up,” the report said, citing a claims head at a mid-sized private life insurer.

According to the report, insurance companies will soon set up a helpline in their individual capacity to ensure that claims are filed on a single platform.

Plans are on to simplify the claims settlement process, the report said, adding that surveyors are being deployed by the insurance companies to assess damage to the insured properties.

(With inputs from The News Minute and MoneyControl)