Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan orders super chlorination and road repairs in post-cyclone areas

A comprehensive review on post-cyclone measures was conducted by Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday evening through a video conference from his Mangalagiri camp office. Senior officials from the Panchayat Raj, Rural Development, and Rural Water Supply (RWS) departments participated in the meeting to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Montha and to plan immediate restoration works.

During the review, officials informed that, according to preliminary departmental estimates, 1,583 villages across Andhra Pradesh were severely affected by the cyclone. It was reported that 1,158 mobile sanitation teams had been formed and that sanitation workers were being deployed in full strength to restore cleanliness in affected areas. Damages worth ₹1.04 crore were reported under the Rural Water Supply Department, mainly concerning drinking water schemes and pipelines disrupted by the cyclone.

The Panchayat Raj Engineering Department informed that 779 roads, 89 bridges, and 473 culverts had suffered various levels of damage due to heavy rains and floods. Restoration work on these damaged roads was instructed to be taken up immediately, with district-level funds to be used for partial repairs and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) allocations to be utilised for major reconstruction.

Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan directed that super chlorination and super sanitation programmes be undertaken in all villages severely affected by the cyclone. It was emphasised that sanitation and water supply departments must work on a war footing, ensuring that drinking water sources remain uncontaminated and that disease outbreaks are prevented. The Deputy Chief Minister stated that alternative arrangements should be made wherever drinking water supply had been disrupted.

Officials were instructed to deploy 21,055 sanitation workers statewide for emergency cleaning operations and to focus on the drainage of stagnant water in low-lying areas. Coordination with the Medical and Health Department was ordered to prevent mosquito-borne and water-borne diseases.

“Post-cyclone measures are extremely critical. Departments must work with strong coordination and planning. Continuous sanitation work must continue until normalcy is restored in all villages,” the Deputy Chief Minister was quoted as saying during the meeting.

Departmental heads were asked to remain fully available at the district level to monitor and supervise operations. The District Zilla Parishad CEOs, Zilla Parishad Chairpersons, DPOs, DLDOs, MPDOs, Deputy MPDOs, and Panchayat Secretaries were directed to coordinate daily and, if necessary, hold teleconferences to ensure there were no delays in execution.

It was instructed that control rooms be set up in every district to coordinate sanitation and restoration efforts. Sufficient bleaching powder stocks were reported to be available at panchayats, and officials were directed to clear any blockages in drainage systems immediately.

Special Chief Secretary of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Shashi Bhushan Kumar, Commissioner of Panchayat Raj Krishna Teja, and other senior officers attended the review. They briefed the Deputy Chief Minister on department-wise progress and proposed plans for restoration.

Officials stated that all emergency teams were on standby to address sanitation and water supply issues in cyclone-affected areas. The Deputy Chief Minister reiterated that restoration of roads and essential infrastructure must begin immediately and that no shortcomings would be tolerated in the post-cyclone rehabilitation process.

This was the first high-level review meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan following Cyclone Montha, marking the beginning of coordinated post-disaster rehabilitation efforts across Andhra Pradesh.

Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan inspects cyclone Montha crop damage in Avanigadda

Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan undertook a field inspection in Koduru mandal of Avanigadda constituency on Thursday morning to assess the crop losses caused by Cyclone Montha. The visit was part of the government’s ongoing review of post-cyclone damage across coastal Andhra Pradesh.

During the visit, the Deputy Chief Minister was accompanied by Krishna District Collector D.K. Balaji (IAS), Minister Kollu Ravindra, Machilipatnam MP Vallabhaneni Balashouri, and Avanigadda MLA Mandali Buddha Prasad. The team interacted with affected farmers, local representatives, and officials to evaluate the extent of damage caused by the cyclone and heavy rainfall.

Pawan Kalyan personally entered the flooded paddy fields to observe the ground situation. He was informed that paddy and banana were the worst-affected crops in the region. Large areas of paddy were reported to have been submerged for two to three days, resulting in grain discolouration and lodging, while banana plantations suffered extensive wind damage and uprooting.

According to preliminary reports from the Agriculture Department, around 12,500 hectares of paddy and 2,000 hectares of banana were either partially or completely damaged in Avanigadda, Koduru, Mopidevi, Ghantasala, and Nagayalanka mandals. Smaller extents of black gram and chilli crops were also affected due to prolonged waterlogging and fungal infections. In addition, nearly 3,000 aquaculture ponds were reported to have been breached or overflowed, resulting in heavy loss of stock in the delta belt.

The District Collector briefed the Deputy Chief Minister that joint enumeration teams from the Revenue, Agriculture, and Horticulture Departments were deployed to conduct a detailed assessment. These teams were instructed to complete crop-cutting experiments and damage verification within the next few days.

The government has stated that immediate assistance will be provided under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). As per the guidelines, provisional compensation has been fixed at ₹10,000 per hectare for paddy, ₹20,000 per hectare for banana, and ₹12,500 per hectare for horticultural crops such as chilli and black gram. For aquaculture losses, ₹1 lakh per hectare has been proposed for breached or damaged ponds.

In addition to state relief, eligible farmers are covered under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for Kharif 2025, implemented through the Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd (AIC). Insurance claims are being processed based on official yield loss data, and settlements are expected to be made within 45 to 60 days after completion of enumeration.

An initial relief package of ₹150 crore has been sanctioned by the government for Krishna, Guntur, Bapatla, and Prakasam districts to support cyclone-affected farmers and restore damaged rural infrastructure.

During the interaction, Pawan Kalyan assured that the state government would stand firmly with farmers and that both relief assistance and insurance settlements would reach them without delay. He emphasised that transparent assessment and timely compensation were being prioritised to help farmers recover from the cyclone’s impact.

The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) has reported that Cyclone Montha brought widespread rainfall and flooding across coastal mandals between October 27 and 29, damaging standing crops and disrupting livelihoods.

Government officials confirmed that restoration works, sanitation drives, and water supply repairs were already underway in the affected villages. Relief camps were also established in low-lying areas as a precautionary measure.