Power, water crises in T Nadu, Puducherry after Cyclone Gaja

CHENNAI: Power supply and telecommunications services remained affected in the cyclone Gaja-hit areas in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Monday.

The cyclone uprooted trees, knocked down electricity poles, destroyed homes, left at least 45 people dead besides forcing the evacuation of over 80,000 people after it made landfall on Friday.

Former Gandhigram Rural University panchayat raj studies professor G Palanithurai said this was the worst storm to hit Tamil Nadu’s coastal districts in 50 years. “The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board is saying that almost 15,000 electric poles have been completely damaged. Even as the employees are on the job, it is not an easy task to restore the power within a few days. All this infrastructure was installed over a period of at least 30-35 years... it cannot be immediately restored,” Palanithurai said.

The power crisis has affected water supply as people in rural areas are unable to pump out groundwater, which they are heavily dependent on.

K Nagarajan, 65, said this was the worst cyclone he has seen. “I have over 200 coconut trees uprooted in my farm. Not even a village administrative officer has visited... Since the motor pumps are not working, men, women, children and livestock are all bathing in same pond.”

S Selvi, 38, a housewife from Ambalapattu village in Thanjavur, said she was using a stonemade hand grinder to make flour. “Officials say it would take at least a week to restore power. So, we have no other option...”

Tamil Nadu’s electricity minister P Thangamani said the power supply will be restored within five days.