Chennai and its suburban residents continue to endure severe power cuts, with no immediate relief in sight. The persistent outages have become a regular occurrence, forcing residents to gather at local TNPDCL offices and on roads to express their anger and frustration, especially as nights become increasingly hot and uncomfortable.
Protests Erupt Across Multiple Areas
On Saturday night, residents of Muttukadu, Thiruporur, and surrounding areas blocked vehicular traffic on the East Coast Road (ECR) and Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) after their neighborhoods were plunged into darkness. Similarly, in Perambur, agitated locals took to the streets due to late-night power interruptions. In Ponneri, residents protested against recurring night-time power cuts that have persisted for the past 20 days.
In Tiruporur, locals surrounded their MLA, B. Vijayraj, when he visited to pacify the crowd, demanding action against the responsible officers. Vijayraj informed them that a proposal to set up a substation in Nellikuppam is under consideration. He assured, 'It will take some time to erect a substation. For now, any problems that arise will be rectified immediately.'
Previous Incidents and Rising Temperatures
Notably, on Friday night, residents of Ambattur had gathered at the local TNPDCL office, engaging in heated arguments with staff over prolonged power cuts in their area. The anger among residents is palpable, especially as Chennai recorded the highest temperatures among districts, with Meenambakkam hitting 40.4 degrees Celsius and Nungambakkam reaching 39.9 degrees Celsius—at least 2.5 degrees Celsius higher than historical averages. Nights have become sultry and uncomfortable, even with air conditioners and fans running.
TNPDCL Blames Network Failures
Despite the heatwave, TNPDCL officials continue to attribute the power supply interruptions to failures in the distribution network. The chief engineer of Kancheepuram stated that the outages on ECR and OMR were caused by a tripping of an 11kV feeder at the 33kV substation in Tiruporur. 'The feeder trip was due to a failure of the HT cable. The fault was isolated and rectified around 1 am,' the official said.
In Perambur, a fault in an LT cable was cited as the reason for the interruption, while a 11kV cable fault was blamed for the power cut in Ponneri.
Power Demand Remains High
On Saturday, Chennai's power demand stood at 4,708 MW, with daily consumption reaching 92.2 million units (Mu), despite power cuts in various areas. This indicates higher demand during night hours. On Sunday, power cuts continued to plague neighborhoods such as Mambalam, Pudupet, Esplanade, and Parry's Corner due to failures of pillar boxes, while Thiru Vi Ka Nagar experienced outages due to a feeder trip at the Kolathur substation.
