After Hudhud, Vizag hit by shortage of essential commodities

After cyclone Hudhud wreaked havoc in Vizag, also called the 'city of destiny', citizens continued to scramble for essential commodities on third day on Tuesday with no signs of immediate restoration of electricity and communication while their sufferings being exacerbated by seemingly tardy response by agencies concerned.

Only some two dozen-odd ATMs, out of around 300 kiosks in the city, are functioning with diesel generators thus adding to the woes of locals who are seen running from pillar to post for milk, drinking water, vegetables and petrol.

Locals are also angry because they are being fleeced by unscrupulous elements like black-marketeers who are charging exorbitant amount to sell the necessary things.

"Drinking water and milk costing Rs 20 (each) are being sold for Rs 50 as black-marketeers are having a field day," an angry resident said.

Appearing helpless due to shortage of essential commodities, a resident pleaded with folded hands: "For people of Visakhapatnam, please give drinking water and other essential commodities. I have not seen such a worst situation in my life."

Though oil companies have clarified that there is an adequate stock of petrol and diesel for 15 days, a large number of people could not get the fuel as some pumps had been damaged whereas a few others could not operate because of power failure. Serpentine queues were seen at petrol stations where people have milled around for refill.

According to oil companies, they were trying to revive the damaged petrol pumps on war-footing.

To add to the sufferings of those trapped in the city due to lack of transportation facilities as railway and airline services still out of gear, some hotel owners were charging a hefty "premium" for their guests though the facilities were packed with no rooms available.

Visakhapatnam, a picture of destruction since Sunday when it was hit by Hudhud which made its landfall here, has been struggling to return to normalcy. The cyclone claimed 21 lives, including 15 in Visakhapatnam district alone.

The calamity left a trail of destruction with thousands of trees lying uprooted; many falling on transmission lines causing power disruptions. Communication network continues to remain disrupted with some damaged mobile towers yet to be repaired.

Though the state government has expressed hope that power would be restored, at least partially, to Vizag by Tuesday night, a Power Department official said it would take a couple of days to actually do that.

With streets strewn with uprooted trees and branches, electric poles, cables and other rubble, citizens themselves voluntarily cleared the blockages in many localities.

Even traffic signals stopped functioning due to lack of power though most of the vehicles were off the roads.

Visakhapatnam airport was in shambles with passenger terminals ravaged and the roof blown away.

The fishing harbour here also bore the brunt of the cyclone fury with scores of boats getting sunk and damaged, officials said.

When asked about the complaints of shortage of essential commodities in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu termed it as an "artificial scarcity".

"By tomorrow morning, everybody should have all essential commodities, including milk, water, everything," he told reporters.

On the devastation unleashed by the cyclonic storm, he said, "People are in trouble, people are in distress. It's our duty to do our best."

The chief minister also appealed to people to help in whatever way they wished, in relief and rehabilitation efforts. "It's a social responsibility," he added.

Photograph: SnapsIndia