Chennai: As nights get hotter, many city neighbourhoods have been experiencing prolonged power cuts over the past few days. For the second consecutive day, Chennai's temperature crossed 40 degrees Celsius on Thursday, intensifying the heatwave conditions. This surge in temperature led to a spike in the city's power demand, which exceeded 4,800 megawatts for the first time, breaking the previous record of 4,769 megawatts set in 2024.
Residents Face Extended Outages
Residents of Villivakkam, Kodungaiyur, Nandambakkam, Velachery, Madipakkam, Thiruvanmiyur, and Tiruvottiyur reported power cuts lasting up to four hours on Wednesday night and Thursday. Peripheral areas such as Muttukadu, Pattabiram, and Ponneri faced even longer outages, with electricity supply disrupted for nearly the entire night.
Arun Prakash, a resident of Villivakkam, said power supply was interrupted around 4:30 am on Thursday and restored only around 8:40 am. S Kannan from Nandambakkam complained of multiple power cuts during the night, adding that no one was available at the local section office to register a complaint. In Tiruvottiyur, residents gathered at the section office on Thursday morning after a sleepless night without electricity. Mohammed Yusuf of Madipakkam expressed frustration, saying children could not sleep. He remarked, "Prime Minister Modi is asking employees to work from home, but power supply has been unreliable."
TNPDCL Response and Ongoing Issues
The power cuts continued in various areas on Thursday as well. However, officials from the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) stated that their rapid response teams were deployed in the field to attend to faults in the network and restore power supply. A TNPDCL official explained, "At Royapuram, the trouble was with an underground cable, while a 33kV substation reported a fault at Alandur. Similarly, a 250kVA transformer fault-tripped at Semmanchery, interrupting supply to surrounding areas. Most issues have been resolved."
Electricity Minister C T R Nirmal Kumar assured the public on Thursday that complaints received through the Minnagam app, social media, and WhatsApp were being addressed immediately. He stated that consumers are given a clear response regarding the fault and the approximate restoration period. "Soon, the reporting system will be made more interactive to keep consumers informed. Work for the same is underway," he added.
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About the Author
Venkadesan S is a Special Correspondent who primarily covers electricity, aviation, the information commission, central investigation agencies, and metro rail.
