Week after cyclone, 500 villages in Saurashtra still without power

EIGHT DAYS after cyclone Tauktae hit the Saurashtra coast, around 500 villages continued to be without electricity on Tuesday even as government-owned power companies are working on war-footing to restore damaged power infrastructure in Amreli, Bhavnagar and Gir Somnath districts.

As many as 430 villages of Amreli district and 69 of the neighbouring Bhavnagar district were without power as of Tuesday evening, Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL), the state government-owned company which distributes power in Saurashtra, Kutch and parts of north Gujarat regions, said in a release on Tuesday evening. Total number of villages without power was 583, including 482 of Amreli and 101 of Bhavnagar.

Bhavnagar collector Gaurang Makwana said later that only 63 villages were without power. “Total 727 units or villages and wards in urban areas faced blackout due to gusty winds brought by cyclone in Bhavnagar. Power has been restored to 91 per cent of them,” he said.

Pankaj Valvai, sub-divisional magistrate of Mahuva in Bhavnagar, said that power supply to dehydration plants and cold storages in and around Mahuva was yet to be restored.

Gir Somnath district collector Ajay Prakash said that 151 villages in his district, too, were without power supply on eight day after cyclone Tauktae made landfall near Una on May 17 evening.

“They include 77 villages of Una taluka, 58 of Gir Gadhada and 16 of Kodinar. The extensive damage caused to the 220 kv sub station of GETCO (Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation) is a major issue and officers are saying that restoring it can take time till June 5,” he said.