Cyclone Tauktae: Power supply yet to be restored in Gujarat's 450 villages

AHMEDABAD: Over a week after cyclone Tauktae wreaked havoc in Gujarat, nearly 450 villages in the state are still waiting for resumption of electricity supply and the work of restoring it is currently on, the state government said on Wednesday.

Cyclone Tauktae made landfall in Gir-Somnath district on the night of May 17 and affected several parts of Gujarat for over 24 hours before moving towards Rajasthan.

Gusty winds uprooted electricity poles and damaged other power infrastructure on its way, which resulted in electricity outage in 10,447 villages, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani told reporters in Gandhinagar on Wednesday.

"All the roads were cleared for traffic within six days. Not a single village is disconnected now. Of the total 10,447 villages where electricity supply was cut due to the cyclone, power has been restored in around 9,900 villages while efforts are on to start the supply in the remaining 450 villages," he said.

A 220 KV substation is still shut and a special team has been called from Kolkata by air to fix the problem related to the substation and power grid, he added.

According to the chief minister, over 600 teams of technicians have been deployed in Amreli district alone to restore electricity.

As announced earlier, the state government has paid cash doles of Rs 10 crore to 2.25 lakh people from the affected regions.

Moreover, the state government has decided to pay Rs 7,000 each to around 15,000 affected families to purchase household items, the CM said.

The state government will give Rs 95,000 to those who have lost their entire house due to the cyclone.

While Rs 25,000 have been approved for 33 per cent damage to the house, people who lost their shanty are also entitled to get relief assistance of Rs 10,000, Rupani said.

A financial package for the farmers will be declared soon after the completion of the ongoing survey to assess crop damage, the chief minister added.

Since the cyclone has uprooted a number of mango, lemon and coconut trees in Saurashtra region, the state government has sent a team of 125 agricultural scientists to come up with solutions to restore the uprooted trees, he said.