ONGOLE: Overcoming the challenges posed by Cyclone Murasu, APCPDCL officials are working round the clock to restore power infrastructure damaged by winds and heavy rain. Since the wee hours of Tuesday, when Murasu made landfall, power supply has been disrupted across the entire district. By Wednesday, officials had restored supply to several cyclone-hit areas, but many localities remained without power.
Kothapatnam, Naguluppalapadu and several parts of Ongole city and rural areas were among the worst affected. Mobile phone services were also disrupted, with several networks experiencing signal problems and SIM-based data and internet remaining unavailable. Cable and internet wires, which are routed along CPDCL power poles, were damaged as several poles collapsed, leaving wires disconnected.
CPDCL officials in the Ongole Circle initially estimated that around 1,300 electric poles had been damaged or uprooted. The estimate has since risen to around 3,500, with 2,000 to 2,500 poles damaged or collapsed in Naguluppalapadu area alone.
“We have brought nearly 750 support staff from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and we have to pay for their support. Already, we found that around 3,500 electric poles were damaged and have to be replaced and other allied equipment will also be replaced. All this will escalate damage estimate to `10 crore and above,” K Venkateswarlu, Superintending Engineer, CPDCL Ongole Circle, told TNIE
Two days after the cyclone, CPDCL officials and staff continued working to restore normal power supply with the assistance of personnel from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
CPDCL Director (Projects) TVSN Murthy and Director (Technical) Murali Krishna Yadav separately inspected restoration works in Ravinuthala and Naguluppalapadu areas on Thursday.
Murthy inspected the restoration of the 33 kV feeder at Ravinuthala, the installation of new poles to replace damaged ones and electricity line repair works. He offered suggestions to officials to expedite the work. During the operation, women labourers working in a nearby field noticed the difficulties faced by electricity personnel and came forward for help.
