Trichy: Frequent power outages across Tiruchy district over the past two weeks have left residents frustrated, with many forced to endure long hours without electricity amid continuing sultry weather and high power demand.
On Tuesday, residents of Thalakudi village panchayat in Lalgudi were among those affected after a transformer fault triggered a power outage from around 10 pm on Monday until Tuesday afternoon. For E Kathiravan, a villager, the outage meant his two children could not attend school on Tuesday after spending a sleepless night without power. The disruption affected several households in the panchayat.
The outage was not an isolated incident. Over the past 15 days, the district has witnessed at least 15 major power disruptions lasting more than an hour, apart from numerous shorter outages of 30 minutes to an hour. Residents in both urban and rural areas have repeatedly complained about the situation, with some staging protests and others voicing their concerns on social media.
Last week, residents of Thalakudi village panchayat blocked the Tiruchy–Chidambaram highway, demanding action against recurring power cuts. “Every day, we usually face power cuts lasting one to two hours. But on Monday, it turned into an overnight outage,” Kathiravan said. A senior Tangedco official said steps had been taken to address recurring outages in the area. “When residents raised the issue with us, we immediately took steps to reroute some connections and address the frequent outage problem. As for the overnight outage on Monday, it was caused by a transformer fault, which could not be rectified during the night,” the official said.
According to Tangedco, power demand in the district touched 600 MW in mid-May and continues to remain around 550 MW despite the end of the peak summer season. During the corresponding period last year, demand ranged between 400 MW and 500 MW in May and between 400 MW and 450 MW in June.
The official said seven special teams had been deployed to attend to complaints and restore supply quickly. Tangedco officials attributed the strain on the network to persistent humid weather and increased use of air conditioners, air coolers and other power-intensive appliances. Despite the installation of more than 180 distribution transformers across the district in the past 15 months, transformer failures and jumper faults have increased due to heavy loads and high temperatures.
