Manpower crunch slowing down repair in cyclone areas

Hyderabad: The shortage of manpower and difficulty in moving in heavy equipment will mean more delay in repair work in  rural Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. This also means that parts of these districts will remain dark during the “festival of lights”.

This is despite the huge workforce which has been camping in the three districts and are working round the clock since Cyclone Hudhud wreaked havoc.

In total, 57 EHT (high tension) towers of APTransco have collapsed across the three districts.  Three towers of 132 KV capacity in rural Visakhapatnam, which have completely collapsed, will require help from the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited. Similarly, work in Vizianagaram, where 289 cranes and other heavy equipment have been deployed, is slow due to the shortage of manpower.

While PGCIL has chipped in to help the AP discoms and APTransco with restoration works, some of it is going to take time. Building back towers in 10 mandals of Visakhapatnam is likely to be delayed by more than three days.

A senior official said, “As more restoration work gets completed, we will have more manpower to chip in with the remaining part.”

Vizianagram and Srikakulam will be mostly without power during this Diwali.