Apart from claiming over 40 lives in North Costal Andhra, severe cyclonic storm Hudhud has left a swathe of destruction with heavy rains and strong winds. Although state government did its best and acted swiftly, several parts of the four cyclone-battered districts Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and East Godavari are yet to come back to normalcy and the devastating memories are haunting the people.
Official figures indicate that 41,269 houses were damaged by the Hudhud affecting over 1,837 villages. Besides 40 human lives, 3,000 animals, 24.43 lakh poultry were killed in natural calamity. Crops over 1.80 lakh hectares were also damaged. On whole, it’s estimated that 17.41 lakh families were directly hit by the cyclone.
With this, Andhra Pradesh is in a sad state of affairs and it’s definitely a dull Diwali for the state as sales of crackers have hit rock bottom. Not just sales of crackers, also there is steep decrease in the sales of garments, sweets, decoration items, household items etc. Many people are not in a festive mood in the state as several of their friends, relatives were hit by the cyclone. Also, government itself invited people to contribute money to CM Relief Fund rather than splurging for crackers. Several people have voluntarily dropped idea of celebrating Diwali in a grand and rich manner. Situation is more or less common in Rayalaseema too. This is perhaps the most “Noiseless ” and “Dull Diwali” in Andhra Pradesh in recent years.
