Chennai: For the past 20 days, residents across Chennai and its suburbs have been grappling with frequent, unannounced, and prolonged power cuts that have severely disrupted their daily routines. What started as brief interruptions of five to ten minutes a few weeks ago has escalated into outages lasting several hours in many neighborhoods, often without any prior warning.
Nighttime Outages Cause Sleep Deprivation
On Tuesday night, power supply in Choolaimedu was cut off around 11:30 PM and was not restored until 3:00 AM, affecting thousands of residents. M Aravind Srinivasan, a resident of a paying guest facility in Choolaimedu who works at a law firm in Alwarpet, reported that the lack of sleep is impacting his work schedule. Parents with young children are particularly affected. Matilda Josephine, a resident of Purasawalkam and mother of two including a six-month-old, spends hours each night trying to keep her children comfortable during outages. She noted that while the electricity board used to inform residents about maintenance work, they are now left in the dark about restoration times.
Cooking Difficulties Amid LPG Crisis
In suburban areas, the power cuts have also hampered cooking. With the ongoing LPG crisis, many households have switched to induction stoves, but these are unusable during power outages. T Sadagopan, president of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Consumer Welfare Association, highlighted that power supply is often disrupted around 6:00 AM and restored only after 8:30 AM, affecting students and office-goers who need to prepare meals. Families relying on induction stoves are unable to cook during this critical period.
Uncertain Restoration Timings
In Ambedkar Colony, residents face unpredictable restoration times. M Nalini, a resident, stated that while power sometimes returns within 15 minutes, it can take up to three hours on other occasions. Officials do not provide clear information when contacted. J Radhakrishan, Chairman and Managing Director of TNPDCL, attributed the interruptions to distribution transformer failures, feeder trippings, ring main unit failures, and substation equipment failures. He confirmed that ten teams have been deployed across the city to monitor and restore power supply, with necessary actions being taken to ensure proper supply to all areas.
