Eight lives were lost—four in Visakhapatnam, three in East Godavari and one in Annamayya districts—and crops in nearly 11 lakh acres were damaged during the Cyclone Michaung in Andhra Pradesh, said a presentation made to the Central team headed by National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) Executive Director Rajendra Ratnoo which is on a visit to the State.
The presentation was made by Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority Managing Director B.R. Ambedkar. The Central team visited Krishna and Bapatla districts on December 13 (Wednesday) as a part of the exercise to assess the damages done during the cyclone. It will visit Tirupati and Nellore districts on December 14 (Thursday).
The State received an average cumulative rainfall of 136.3 mm from December 3 to 6 when compared to the normal of 0.5 mm during this period, with a deviation of 135.8 mm. Twenty-two districts of the total 26 in the State recorded excess rainfall, as per the information given in the presentation. Tirupati district received the maximum rainfall of 384.1 mm in four days.
The maximum number of mandals affected are in Kadapa district, where 30 out of the total 36 mandals were affected, followed by Tirupati district where 29 out of 34 mandals were hit. In Krishna and Bapatla, all 25 mandals were affected. While 2,178 houses were damaged (maximum in Chittoor), 2,684 houses were inundated (maximum in Bapatla).
Detailing the sector-wise damage, Mr. Ambedkar said that the maximum crop damage was witnessed in Krishna district (98,447.79 ha) followed by Guntur district (93,245 ha). The overall crop damage in affected districts stands at 4,41,984 ha, while the number of small and marginal farmers affected was 6,65,380. Crops that bore the brunt of the cyclone were paddy, Bengal gram, red gram, cotton, groundnut, black gram.
In horticulture, crops in 44,789 ha. were affected and 58,326 farmers were hit. The maximum loss was incurred in Guntur district. According to the presentation, 155 big and 307 small animals and 13,665 poultry birds died.
More than 900 km of Panchayat Raj roads and 4,544. 58 km of roads coming under the Roads and Buildings Department have been damaged.
As per the NDRF norms, the State government has to give ₹950 crore as input subsidy to the four sectors of agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries sector. A major chunk of it, ₹70,336 lakh, goes to the agriculture sector, the major hit. Around ₹33,000 lakh is for the Roads and Buildings Department.
In total, the State government has to release ₹3,711 crore for complete restoration and it has so far released approximately ₹55 crore, Mr. Ambedkar said in the presentation.
