Industry loses Rs 2,750 cr in Orissa

BHUBANESWAR, NOV 7: With the state government and industrialists here projecting their cumulative losses beyond a staggering Rs 2,750 cro...

BHUBANESWAR, NOV 7: With the state government and industrialists here projecting their cumulative losses beyond a staggering Rs 2,750 crore, the first of the hazy pictures of the devastation caused to agriculture and industry in Orissa by the killer cyclone of October 29 have emerged.

Preliminary estimates on cyclone damages by the state government say that over 23 lakh hectares of cultivable land has been affected by the super cyclone. Of this, in over 15 lakh hectares the crop loss has been more than 50 per cent.

Agricultural losses alone have been estimated to cross Rs 1,750 crore. Both the sectors, which suffered serious blows, will take a long time to come back to rails, says state relief commissioner RN Padhi. Industries of all sizes 8212; small, medium and large 8212; have been wiped off suffering a combined loss of over Rs 1,000 crore.

The worst of the lot is the Central Electricity Supply Corporation Cesco, a subsidiary of the Grid Corporation of Orissa Gridco responsible for power distributionin the Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Dhenkanal zone.

This central zone has borne the most severe brunt of the cyclone with the power system in Kendrapada, Paradip and Jagatsinghpur virtually collapsing. Cesco has suffered damages of over Rs 300 crore in the shape of uprooted electrical poles and towers carrying high tension lines, snapped wires and burnt transformers. Because of the large scale damage to the power infrastructure, there has been total disruption in the central zone. With active assistance from the Power Grid Corporation of India PGCIL and Transco of Andhra Pradesh, the state government has taken up restoration work on a war-footing.

Just a fortnight before the super cyclone, a cyclone of slightly lesser intensity in Ganjam had torn apart another Gridco subsidiary, the Southern Electricity Company, with losses estimated to cross Rs 100 crore.

The prosperous port town of Paradip has been completely devastated by the storm. Paradip Port Trust chairman Santosh Mohapatra put the preliminarylosses to port machinery at Rs 100 crore.

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Another public sector undertaking, the Paradip Phosphates engaged in manufacture of diammonium phosphates has suffered huge losses too. Details of the damages are yet to be assessed since many parts of the plant are still under water.

A fertiliser unit under construction by Punjab-based Oswal group has claimed losses of over Rs 200 crore. Besides, the plant accounted for a good number of casualties in Paradip since the construction workers were inside its premises when the worst happened.

The plant, which also held out a threat of ammonia gas leak due to increase of gas temperature inside the tank following power disruption, averted a Bhopal-like tragedy by sending an SOS to the air force authorities.

In the Cuttack belt, thriving industrial centres of Choudwar and Jagatpur, which nestled a number of medium and small scale units, have all been shut down after the cyclone badly inundated their premises. The belt boasted of big names like the Ballarpur PaperMills, Orissa Textile Mill OTM and Indian Charge Chrome ICCL. But for ICCL8217;s power unit, the rest are still under water.