Members belonging to the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and its affiliated trade bodies staged a demonstration in front of the Madurai Regional office of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) on Monday protesting against the preferential treatment being given to Chennai.
Even as the rest of the State was facing up to 14 hours of power cuts every day, the protestors decried the power authorities for affecting only two hours of load shedding.
In a memorandum submitted to the TANGEDCO officials after the protest, Chamber senior president S. Rethinavelu and president N. Jegatheesan said that the power cuts had crippled the industrial production of small units in other districts.
However, the shorter duration of load shedding to Chennai was making the units located in the capital more competitive. This was resulting in new entrepreneurs preferring to commence industries in Chennai.
Intermitted disruptions in power supply for long durations without any prior intimation were resulting in industries being unable to run even a single shift. Besides causing monetary and production losses, the industries were unable to maintain the required quality in products. As a result, the trade body said that many companies were on the verge of closure and industrial growth in the State was going to decline.
The Chamber urged the TANGEDCO to distribute available power equitably without any disparity and streamline power so that small and medium enterprises have uninterrupted power for at least eight hours to enable them run one shift fully.
The trade body also called for halting the power cuts during night hours in view of public safety and suspend the collection of the ‘steep enhanced’ fixed charges till the power supply was provided throughout the day.
