Prime Minister Modi speaks to A.P. CM Naidu, pledges Central support in dealing with damage caused by two cyclones

A tobacco barn lies in ruins at Naguluppalapadu village in Prakasam district following heavy rain and strong winds triggered by Cyclone Murasu. File

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday spoke to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu over phone and reviewed the impact of cyclones Arnab and Murasu that hit the State within a week, assuring the State of the Centre's support in dealing with the damage.

Mr. Naidu briefed the Prime Minister on the losses caused by the cyclones, particularly to agriculture, horticulture, roads and electricity infrastructure.

He said heavy rainfall and strong winds had caused extensive damage to crops and disrupted life in several districts, and sought adequate financial assistance from the Centre to provide relief to the affected farmers and restore damaged infrastructure.

Mr. Modi appreciated the State government’s handling of the cyclone-related situation and commended Mr. Naidu for remaining alert and addressing the difficulties faced by the people in the affected areas.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister intensified his efforts to secure immediate Central assistance. Besides writing to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Chief Minister spoke to him four times and requested for early deployment of Central teams to assess the losses, officials in the Chief Minister's Office said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu urges the Centre to announce interim assistance without delay to help restore normalcy and provide relief to the affected farmers. File

In its preliminary assessment of the damage caused by Cyclone Arnab, the government estimated the losses at ₹4,563 crore. As many as 781 villages across 16 districts had been severely affected. Agricultural crops in over three lakh hectares and horticultural crops in over 13,600 hectares suffered damage. The cyclone also damaged about 29,000 electricity poles and 7,981 km of power lines.

Mr. Naidu sought ₹4,563 crore as immediate assistance to address the damage caused by the cyclone.

In a separate communication to Mr. Shah, the Chief Minister said that Cyclone Murasu had affected 465 villages in seven districts. Paddy in over 50,473 hectares and commercial crops in an extent of 1,985 hectares were damaged, he said. Preliminary assessment put the damage caused to properties at ₹343 crore.

The Chief Minister urged the Centre to announce interim assistance without delay to help restore normalcy and provide relief to farmers.

Apart from the cyclone-related losses, Mr. Naidu sought the intervention of Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to resolve the issue of more than 150 containers of chilli stranded at the Colombo port in Sri Lanka.

The consignments, valued at nearly ₹60 crore, were meant for export to China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. They were reportedly held up over objections relating to moisture content.

The Chief Minister cautioned that further delay could result in substantial losses to the farmers and exporters, and requested Mr. Goyal to take up the matter with the countries concerned and facilitate the clearance of the consignments.