Cyclone Gaja which battered Tamil Nadu on November 16 has uprooted over one lakh electric poles and damaged significant number of power sub-stations, with reports suggesting that many parts of Delta districts are still without power.
Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise P Thangamani
Chennai:
Electricity Minister P Thangamani said that the Central government had provided Rs 200 crores to undertake overhauling work in power sector that was severely affected by the recent cyclone.
‘Gaja’ has claimed 63 lives, with Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Pudukottai being the worst affected districts.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Saturday announced that as many as 1,13,566 electricity poles, 1,082 transformers and 194 substations were damaged.
So far, the storm damaged 201 power substations, upstaged 886 transformers and snapped 53,21,506 electricity connections.
The Tamil Nadu government has already released a sum of Rs 1000 crore for immediate relief and rehabilitation efforts in the affected areas. The state has demanded an immediate release of nearly Rs. 1500 crore towards "temporary renovation" activities from the Centre’s natural calamities corpus.
According to the abstract of the memorandum submitted to PM Modi by TN Chief Minister, Tamil Nadu has sought a total sum of Rs 14,910 crore towards permanent renovation activities in various areas, including the power sector which has been badly hit.
The Chief Minister lauded the untiring efforts of the 24,941 TANGEDCO workers who are involved in restoring the electricity infrastructure in the Gaja hit districts including Nagapattinam, Pudukottai and Tiruvarur.