Now Reading: Underground cables to shield Vizag beach areas from cyclone outages
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Underground cables to shield Vizag beach areas from cyclone outages
The Story in Brief
Residents in several localities near Visakhapatnam beach may escape power interruptions during the cyclone expected to hit the coast on 27 and 28 October, thanks to underground power cables laid in 2022. The areas covered include RK Beach, Siripuram, CBM Compound, Old CBI Down, China Waltair, Peda Waltair, Pandurangapuram, Kirlampudi Layout, East Point Colony and parts of MVP Colony.
“Even if there are technical snags arising out of high velocity winds, we will restore them without losing much time,” an engineer of APEPDCL, Visakhapatnam, said. Underground cable installation in Visakhapatnam began in March 2018, with civil works starting at RK Beach under a World Bank-funded project. The initiative followed extensive damage to the city's power infrastructure during super cyclone Hudhud, which hit Visakhapatnam on 12 October 2014. Then Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was personally present during restoration operations after Hudhud. The underground cabling project aimed to strengthen power infrastructure and reduce vulnerability to severe weather.
Indian Opinion Analysis
For thousands of residents in Visakhapatnam's beach-side localities, the real test of the World Bank-funded underground cabling project begins when the cyclone makes landfall on 27 October. The project was a direct response to the devastation caused by super cyclone Hudhud in 2014, which left much of the city's overhead network in ruins. While APEPDCL engineers have expressed confidence in restoring any technical snags quickly, the first severe weather encounter for the buried cables will reveal whether the investment has delivered on its promise of resilience. The outcome will be measured by how many homes stay lit during and after the storm.
Source: deccanchronicle.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
