Amaravati, Nov 10 (NationPress) – The government of Andhra Pradesh announced on Monday that the financial toll from Cyclone Montha is estimated at Rs 6,384 crore, prompting a request for urgent aid of Rs 901 crore from the Central government.

The state officials briefed the visiting Central team, which has come to evaluate the cyclone's impact, indicating that the destruction inflicted by Cyclone Montha surpassed initial forecasts across multiple regions.

Led by Pasumi Basu, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, an eight-member Central team including Dr. K. Ponnuswamy, Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, commenced their assessment in the state.

The team began their visit at the Secretariat in Amaravati on Monday, where they were welcomed by officials from the RTGS office.

Special Chief Secretary for Revenue, G. Jayalakshmi, along with Prakhar Jain, CEO of RTGS and AP State Disaster Management Authority, delivered a detailed presentation illustrating the extent of the destruction. They reported that the cyclone wreaked havoc across 24 districts, leading to significant losses in various sectors.

In terms of agriculture, crops poised for harvest faced severe flooding, jeopardizing the livelihoods of farmers. Over 1.61 lakh acres of standing crops, including paddy, cotton, green gram, and maize, suffered damage. Additionally, horticultural crops over 6,250 hectares and mulberry plantations spanning 17.72 hectares were impacted.

The fisheries sector also faced losses with fish ponds over 3,063 hectares being destroyed. In total, 4,566 houses and 1,853 schools were damaged.

Under the Roads and Buildings Department, approximately 4,794 km of roads and 311 bridges and culverts were affected. The Irrigation Department reported damage to 3,437 minor and 2,417 major irrigation structures. Moreover, 58 urban local bodies faced severe consequences from the heavy rains.

Officials are urging the Central government for immediate aid of Rs 901.4 crore, stressing that this support is vital for rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts to assist affected families in recovering from this devastating disaster.

Thanks to proactive planning and effective disaster preparedness, significant human casualties were avoided. Relief operations commenced swiftly.

Drawing lessons from previous flood experiences, the state government utilized technology to improve response strategies.

The Central team was informed that 680 drones were deployed for real-time monitoring of floods, coordinating search and rescue missions, and assessing damages, marking one of the largest deployments of this kind in the nation.

From October 27 to 29, the region experienced 82.3 mm of rainfall, which is nine times the average. The cyclone affected 443 mandals, leading to three fatalities, the submergence of 9,960 houses, and the displacement of 1,11,402 individuals, as reported to the Central team.

For rescue and relief efforts, the government mobilized 12 NDRF teams, 13 SDRF teams, 1,702 vehicles, and 110 trained swimmers. A total of 2,471 rehabilitation centers were established across 22 districts, providing shelter to 1,92,441 displaced individuals.