A health camp in Kothuru village of Srikakulam district. (Photo: PTI)

With efforts on to restore power and drinking water supply to large parts of Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district, which was battered by Cyclone Titli on October 11, the state government has deputed 15 ministers, 35 IAS officers, and more than 100 deputy collectors to resolve various issues and restore normalcy.

The government has deputed one minister, four or five IAS officers, and 10 deputy collector-level officers to each of the 13 mandals to oversee relief camps, organise food and water supply, enumerate damages to houses, crops, and livestock, and arrange for compensation immediately.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and son IT and Panchayati Raj Minister N Lokesh Naidu are also camping in Palasa town near Srikakulam for the past four days, directing the relief operations.

The CM had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 13, seeking Rs 1,200 crore interim relief for the cyclone-affected districts of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram. On Tuesday, he submitted a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was in Amaravati to lay the foundation stone for the Andhra Pradesh BJP unit’s office building. Naidu stated that the total damage in the two districts is Rs 3,435 crore, and requested Singh to release the interim relief amount of Rs 1,200 immediately.

Although the death toll was low, with only nine killed, the severe cyclonic storm, which made landfall near Palasa with wind speeds of 175 km per hour, uprooted thousands of electricity and telecommunication poles, devastated coconut and cashew orchards, and flattened standing crops.