A week after the havoc wrought by cyclone Hudhud last Sunday, the public of the port city is now getting ready to celebrate Deepavali later this week on a sombre note, with lamps only and no crackers.

The State Government has taken the decision to ban cracker sales in the city, as huge mountains of dry wood and leaves are piled up beside the roads in the city. A large number of trees have been felled by the cyclone. Bursting of crackers will tremendously increase the risk of fires in a city already ravaged by a cyclone and "we have taken the decision to ban cracker sales," explained Chief Minister N. Chandra Babu Naidu.

However, the Chief Minister added, the people should not give in to despondency and they should celebrate the festival with lamps. "In adversity we should all unite and face the situation. So far the people have shown great resilience and I am sure they will show the same spirit in rebuilding the city," he added.

He said here on Sunday that the Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Corporation Ltd. (APEPDCL) officials and others worked round the clock to restore power to large parts of the city and also in Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts. "We have restored power to the Visakhapatnam steel plant and other major PSU units. They are in the process of reviving production. Many of the units have suffered heavy damage. The NTPC Simhadri has revived power generation," he said.

He said a central team would visit the city to find out about the problems of the industrial units after the cyclone and the industry should apprise the team of the issues. He on his part would do everything possible to mitigate the hardship of the industry and put it back on the revival path.

In rebuilding the city, the Chief Minister added, appropriate technologies would be used to make it as cyclone-proof as possible. "There is no need to worry about the future of Vizag. It is only a temporary setback," he said.

>sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics