Chennai: Just as Chennai residents were beginning to recover from weeks of heat-related power disruptions, strong winds and evening rain on Thursday triggered fresh outages across the city and suburbs. Many areas were left without electricity, sparking protests in some neighbourhoods.
Fallen Trees and Hoardings Disrupt Power Supply
Falling trees and hoardings on live cables interrupted power supply to several areas, particularly in southern suburbs, while tripping of different feeders was cited as the reason for power cuts in the city. Across the city and suburbs, 20 failures were reported since Thursday evening.
Sembakkam residents suffered without power supply since 4:30 pm and blocked the Tambaram-Velachery road around 8 pm. “Kids have exams the next day, how can they study without electricity?” asked a resident. The protesters complained that local section officers were not available over the phone and said the field personnel left the work midway, prolonging the residents' agony.
However, senior officials said the team was diverted to attend to a major fault as a high-tension overhead cable was cut due to a falling coconut tree.
Details of Faults and Restoration Efforts
“A HT line powering the Gowrivakkam feeder from the Madambakkam substation snapped, while another pin insulator at the VGP Srinivasa Nagar feeder also failed. The Arkeshwarar feeder, VGP Ponnagar feeder, and Velusamy Nagar feeder also fault tripped, leading to interruption in power supply to Chitlapakkam, Sembakkam, and Perungalathur. In Sholinganallur too, a HT line snapped,” said the official, adding that the faults were rectified overnight to restore power supply.
In Maduravoyal, a gigantic hoarding pole fell on the double-pole structure, suspending power supply to cold storage facilities in Koyambedu. In the core city, Perambur, Anna Nagar, KK Nagar, and Adyar also faced issues due to failures of the distribution network.
TNPDCL officials said that interruptions were long in areas like Mugalivakkam and Kundrathur, which are powered by overhead lines, as they snapped due to falling trees and hoardings from heavy winds.
