CM Meets Telecom Heads To Review Restoration Works

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu chaired a high-level meeting in Visakhapatnam with the heads of telecom companies with regard to the restoration of telecom lines battered by Cyclone Hudhud.

In a meeting attended by Bharti Airtel head Sunil Mittal and state heads of other telecom companies, the Chief Minister asked the telecom companies to come up with plans that charged lower rates in the cyclone-hit districts of the State.

In a meeting expected to be attended by the heads of the companies, only Bharti Airtel's Sunil Mittal was present. The Chief Minister expressed his discontent over the indifferent behaviour of telecom firms which did not help the government and the people in this dire situation.

He said that telcos also had a social responsibility, and could not focus on profit-making. He added that if the telecom service providers had responded and acted quickly to restore services, they would have been done within two days.

The CM asked the companies to ensure that they set up mobile charging points so that customers could charge their cellphones. Local executives from Idea Cellular responded by coming forward to set up mobile charging centres.

He also asked telecom companies to ensure that officials were provided 3G services so that relief and restoration works happened quickly and efficiently.

Tata executives informed the Chief Minister that 50% of the services had been restored in the Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts, while Uninor said that it has restored 48% of services.

Meanwhile, Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and Sudha Murthy of Infosys Foundation telephoned the Chief Minister to find out about the cyclone relief work.

During an earlier meeting, the Chief Minister said that he was preparing a new plan for Visakhapatnam, and added that a new design would be planned to ensure that the green cover was back in the city and other cyclone-hit districts.

He said that the State government would rebuild Vizag from scratch, keeping in mind the risk of natural calamities.

"I want to instill confidence in Vizag's citizens," he said. "I will not move out of Vizag until 80-90% of power is restored in this district."

The Chief Minister said that the government had flooded the market with vegetables and essential commodities. This had brought down the prices of vegetables. He asked Visakha, Sangam and Heritage Diary to lower the rates of milk by Rs. 10.

The calamity had shown how an administration needed to work efficiently and quickly, he remarked.

He added that it was unfortunate that people were writing off the city and its IT boom. "We will bring it back to life," he swore. (INN)