Montha caused losses worth ₹5,625cr: Naidu
Cyclone Montha caused ₹5,265 crore in damages in Andhra Pradesh, with significant losses in agriculture and infrastructure, prompting swift recovery efforts.
Andhra Pradesh has suffered loss of crops, roads and other infrastructure to the extent of ₹5,265 crore due to Cyclone Montha that wreaked havoc in the last two days, according to a preliminary assessment, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters after a review meeting with officials at the state secretariat, Naidu said the agriculture sector alone incurred losses worth ₹829 crore, while the roads and buildings (R&B) department reported damage amounting to ₹2,079 crore. Losses to the irrigation sector were comparatively lower this time, he added.
Naidu said that advance planning and swift preventive measures helped minimize the impact of the cyclone. “We had anticipated the fury of Cyclone Montha well in advance, which helped us reduce the damage considerably,” he said.
Explaining the government’s preparedness, the CM said, “We managed to geotag every household and family. Our decisions were adjusted in real time to match the changing situation. In the past, power restoration would take nearly 10 hours after an outage, but this time, supply was restored within three hours. All departments worked with remarkable commitment.”
Naidu praised officials and field staff for their prompt response. “Despite heavy rains, fallen trees were cleared immediately to prevent inconvenience. Earlier, it used to take almost a week to remove them. Natural disasters cannot be prevented, but timely preparedness can definitely minimise their impact,” he said.
Naidu said that a detailed damage report would soon be finalised and submitted to the Centre for assistance.
He noted that despite heavy rains and widespread tree falls, road clearance and restoration work began immediately. “Earlier, it used to take four to seven days to respond, but this time, roads were cleared quickly,” Naidu remarked, crediting village secretariat staff and line departments for their “wonderful teamwork.”
Naidu lauded the seamless coordination among various departments, saying it ensured timely relief, restored connectivity, and minimised hardship for people in cyclone-affected regions. He described the collective effort as a reflection of the administration’s commitment to public service and disaster preparedness.
Principal secretary (agriculture) Buditi Rajasekhar said around 70% of the crop damage in the state due to the cyclone occurred in paddy crops, mainly in Konaseema, Kakinada, and Nellore districts. “Officials should determine crop condition and recovery possibility based on growth stage and record the damage survey quickly, without delay,” he said.
TELANGANA CONTINUES TO REEL IN FLOODS
Several Telangana districts like Warangal, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Nalgonda and Khammam continued to witness heavy floods in the aftermath of Cyclone Montha.
Following huge flood related damages, chief minister A Revanth Reddy held a video conference with the collectors and senior officials of the cyclone-affected districts and ordered them to take relief measures on a war footing in the areas affected by the torrential rains under the influence of the cyclone.
He asked the officials to take appropriate measures to ensure no loss of life and livestock in the flood affected areas. Shifting of the people from the flood prone areas and providing rehabilitation to them should be given top priority.
The ministers and collectors briefed Revanth Reddy about the damage of paddy and cotton in the cyclone-affected areas. “Preliminary enumeration said that huge flood damages were reported in the erstwhile Warangal and Nalgonda districts and also in Husnabad assembly constituency,” an official release said.
In the wake of the reports that paddy has been soaked in many places and the farmers are worried about their paddy stocks washed away in some procurement centres, the CM instructed the collectors to make arrangements to immediately shift paddy to the nearest godowns and mills.
Revanth Reddy will conduct an aerial survey in the flood-hit areas of Warangal and Husnabad on Friday morning. He will inspect the areas damaged by heavy rains and the crops withered.
