It’s close to two months since cyclone Vardah pummelled the city and its outskirts, and restoration work has been carried out in the region. The work has however missed a low tension electric pole at Thennanthopu Street in Mittanamalli, near Indian Air Force (IAF) Station, Avadi. Damaged in the fury of Vardah, the electric pole remains lopsided posing a threat to the safety of passers-by.
According to residents, a few months ago, following a news report in The Hindu Downtown about the the dangers of the fragile and dilapidated electric poles on the street, the assistant engineer of Tangedco (Mittanamallee division) ensured replacement of fragile and lopsided electric poles with new ones.
The new poles, except for one, withstood the fury of the cyclone. The damaged pole is located in the centre of many houses. Despite power supply being restored on December 20, a week after the cyclone, the lopsided pole was not strengthened with cement concrete at its base and not fixed properly.
“We have been requesting the Mittanamallee AE of Tangedco to restore the electric pole to original position, before the cyclone hit. However, Tangedco officials have not responded to our plea,” says S. Meenakshi, a resident of Avadi.
The stretch is busy throughout the day as it provides easy access to various areas in the neighbourhood, including Muthapudupet, Palavedu and Melappedu.
Moreover, children play on the street every evening. However, after the cyclone, fearing that the lopsided pole may fall, residents don’t allow their children to play outside.
Based on residents’ demand, the stretch is now being re-laid with cement concrete by the Avadi Municipality at a cost of Rs. 10 lakh.
Residents say this is the right time to fix the damaged electric pole, because after road-laying work gets completed, fixing the pole would entail braking up the newly-laid stretch.
Tangedco officials say cyclone Vardah has damaged hundreds of electric poles in the city and outskirts. Within the Avadi limits alone, over 550 poles have been damaged due to the cyclone. Workers from other Tangeco stations in the State have been working to replace the damaged poles. However, many new concrete poles lie at many streets in Avadi.
“As additional workers were deployed elsewhere, we are unable to fix the lopsided electric pole in the neighbourhood,” says a local Tangedco official.
It was missed out in the restoration work carried out post-Vardah.
