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Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘Montha’ crossed the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between 11.30 pm and 12.30 am on October 28-29, after making its landfall at Narsapur near Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. It caused severe damage to standing crops, infrastructure facilities and houses in Andhra Pradesh and the adjoining southern part of Odisha.
According to a preliminary report, standing crops like paddy, cotton, maize and vegetables in large areas of both neighbouring states were damaged due to heavy rains and winds triggered by the cyclone. Power infrastructure in Kakinada was severely affected following the uprooting of electric poles and roadside trees during the landfall of Montha.
The landfall process started at 7 pm. The cyclone passed Andhra Pradesh at 12.30 am.
Though the exact damage is yet to be estimated in both states, Andhra Pradesh officials estimated it to be over 43,000 hectares, with around 83,000 farmers affected. Loss to the power sector in the state was pegged at around Rs 2,200 crore.
Road communication in several districts of the state was also hit due to damage caused to roads. The Road and Building Department of Andhra Pradesh said around 1,632 km of roads were damaged in the cyclone.
Andhra’s Transport and Roads & Buildings Minister B C Janardhan Reddy said the cyclone caused the formation of potholes and erosion of roads at 69 locations. Restoration has been completed at 16 locations so far. The repair work is going on a war footing to restore communication, he said.
Though the cyclone did not pass through Odisha, its impact was felt in southern Odisha districts like Gajapati, Ganjam, Korapurt, Rayagada and Kalahandi, which recorded heavy rains. The highest rainfall in the last 24 hours (ended at 8 am on October 29) was recorded at 150.5 mm in the Goshani block of Gajapati district, followed by 119.8 mm in Rayagada block of the same district and 117.4 mm in Patrapur block of Ganjam district.
Road communication in Gajapati, an Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border district, was hit due to landslides and trees being uprooted due to heavy rains. Several houses have also been reportedly damaged in Ganjam and Gajapati districts. The road communication however was restored as boulders and fallen trees were removed immediately, said Gajapati collector Madhumita.
Farmers in Odisha bore the brunt of cyclone fury when their crops were inundated in the heavy rainfall. “The paddy crop on around two acres of my land was in the harvesting stage. But it is now feared lost due to the heavy rainfall triggered by the cyclone,” said Niranjan Mohanty, a farmer in Baiganwadi village of Ganjam district’s Kukudakhandi block.
Like Mohanty, several farmers in the worst-hit districts like Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Kalahandi also told the same tale.
Odisha’s Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari reviewed the damage in the aftermath of the cyclone at Bhubaneswar. He said as many as 33 blocks and 11 urban bodies in Odisha were affected by the rains. The state government had evacuated over 19,000 people from low-lying and landslide- prone areas to safer places. The highest number of over 10,000 people were evacuated in Gajapati district.
“We have asked district collectors to furnish their damage report soon after assessing the damage. The state government will provide compensation to victims, including farmers, as soon as the report is provided,” he said. The crop damage assessment would be made from October 30, he said.