VISAKHAPATNAM: Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has suspended its bus services in the rural areas of the district from Thursday due to the devastation caused by Cyclone Titli in Srikakulam.
People who were travelling from Vizag to Srikakulam were forced to stay in the city. While some buses were going towards the town area, transport in rural areas was completely halted as uprooted trees blocked the roads in several places.
One Nemalipuri Latha, a resident of Pundi village, came to the city for taking home her two children from a residential school here. “The condition at our village is so horrible that my husband insisted us to stay in a hotel for two days until everything returns to normal,” she said.
“Electric poles, mobile towers, water supply lines and crops have been damaged in the village while rain water entered the houses. There is no proper communication about the total loss as mobile phones are all either switched off or not reachable,” she said.
The widespread destruction has led to a loss of public property worth Rs 500 crore in Palasa, Kasibugga and other areas. Around 200 cashew factories were damaged completely. Apart from the toll gates, the bus garages of APSRTC in Palasa and Tekkali were also wrecked up.
APSRTC Vizianagaram zone executive director Dr S.A. Ansari said that the compound wall of Tekkali garage, spread across 10 acres, and the roof-top were destroyed by the speeding winds at 140-150 km per hour.
“Around Rs 1 crore worth transport infrastructure was ruined in the cyclone,” he informed. The roads were blocked in the routes towards 13 villages. State transport minister K. Atchannaidu, who hails from Srikakulam district, has been closely monitoring the situation by visiting the affected areas. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also reviewed the relief activities.
