JEYPORE: After being hit by Hud Hud, public transport system resumed in Koraput district on Wednesday. Electricity too has been restored in many parts of the district.
Over 100 buses, run by Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) in south Odisha and all the private buses remained off roads since Sunday due to the cyclone, causing immense hardship to commuters.
Roads leading to neighbouring Chhattisgarh, Malkangiri and Rayagada districts have been cleared by the NDRF and ODRAF teams. However, road link between Narayanpatna and Parvatipuram in Andhra Pradesh is still cut off.
Official sources said power supply to all urban areas would be restored by Thursday and rural areas by October 25. Around 300 electric feeders were damaged under Koraput and Jeypore Southco division snapping power supply to 2000 villages and 20 urban areas. Till now, Southco has restored power to 70 per cent of urban areas and 40 per cent of rural areas.
Apparently, Southco has suffered a loss of `50 crore in the shape of damage to conductors, electricity polls, sub-stations in Potangi, Lamatput, Nandapur, Narayanpatna, Badhugam, Boipariguda, Jeypore, Kundra and Dasmantapur pockets in the tropical storm.
“We have restored power connection in Potangi which was the worst affected,” said Southco Executive Engineer, Koraput, RK Mishra.
However, rail communication from Koraput to various areas still remained affected. As the tracks between Koraput and Rayagada are blocked at several places by debris caused due to landslides, train services from here have remained affected. “Once, the tracks are cleared train services will resume from Koraput,” station manager of Koraput railway station, Jogendra Nath Majhi said.
A total of 30,000 houses have been damaged in the cyclone.
Farmers Resent Assessment Delay
Koraput: Even as cyclone Hud Hud passed Koraput district four days back, the district administration is yet to reach out to farmers to assess the damage.
Sources said 10,000 hectares (ha) of paddy, 2000 ha of sugarcane and over 500 acres of vegetable crops were damaged in the cyclone. More than 30,000 farmers of Potangi, Jeypore, Narayanpatana, Nandapur, Lamatput, Kundura, Borrigumma and Kotpad bore the brunt of the storm.
As per norms, the administration should assess the crop loss by sending joint teams of Agriculture and Revenue Departments to affected areas. But no such step has been taken so far.
Meanwhile, Collector has assured the farmers to look into their crop loss.