Cyclone Michaung Leaves Trail of Destruction in Tirupati and Nellore Districts
Tirupati: Cyclonic storm Michaung, which made landfall near Bapatla on the Andhra coast on Tuesday, has resulted in widespread devastation particularly in Tirupati and Nellore districts.
Although the cyclone weakened by Wednesday, it caused significant losses for agriculture as also infrastructure and the disruptions to daily life were massive.
In Tirupati district, there was substantial damage to crops, with approximately 7,126 hectares of paddyfields, 246 hectares of chilli and flower gardens, and aqua farms in Pichatur suffering significant losses.
The devastation extended to cattle sheds, leading to the loss of numerous cattle, calves, sheep and goats. Tirupati collector Venkataramana Reddy stated that the estimated cost of crop damage was around ₹50 crore.
Collector Reddy directed the horticulture and agriculture officials to submit a comprehensive report on crop damage in the district. He said compensation will be granted to all affected farmers. A thorough assessment of crop loss will be made in the next ten days.
A total of 29 mandals and 546 villages were affected by the cyclone in Tirupati district.
The district administration has set up 84 relief centres, offering shelter and food to around 6,478 people. The collector released funds to local officials to provide immediate relief of '1,000 per person or '2,500 per family. Approximately 22,635 families were impacted by the cyclone in Tirupati.
The cyclone severely disrupted power supply in the coastal areas, with 496 villages experiencing outages. Although power has been restored to almost all villages, transportation disruptions on the Kota-Vakadu Road have delayed restoration in 5 to 6 villages.
Additionally, there was extensive damage to roads and irrigation canals, with 97km of R&B roads, 87km of Panchayat Raj roads and 244 irrigation canals affected.
In Nellore district, the cyclone caused severe damage to 10,000 acres of paddyfields and groundnut in 50,00 hectares. Green chilli, papaya and other vegetable crops in nearly 250 hectares faced inundation due to continuous rains over the past two days.
Additionally, 300 fish ponds have been damaged.
Nellore collector Harinarayanan reported that 19 mandals in the district were severely affected, as 27cm of rainfall was reported from December 2 to 5.
“Despite the damage, precautionary measures taken by the district administration have ensured zero casualties and preservation of livestock. A total of 144 relief centres have been established, providing shelter, food and accommodation to around 8,000 people,” he said.
The damage assessment in Nellore would be completed over the next three days. Notably, the Kanpur canal suffered damage at two locations affecting irrigation, but no other harm has been cited. Efforts are under way to make the Mypadu substation operational within the next 24 hours, as 27 substations in the district have been damaged.
