When residents of Moovarasampet, Nanganallur, Madipakkam, Ullagaram and Puzhuthivakkam met, they had a common topic — power fluctuations. These localities were immensely affected by this problem. Now, these residents have lost this topic, which often served as an ice breaker between strangers.
With Tangedco installing a number of transformers and feeders in these localities, this problem seems to be a thing of the past. R. Ramakrishnan, resident of Hindu Colony, Ullagaram, says, “The voltage fluctuations and power cuts have reduced drastically.” Earlier, houses in certain parts of Ullagaram and Puzhuthivakkam received power supply through loop-lines from Velachery, Nanganallur and Madipakkam substations.
A senior Tangedco official from Nanganallur says, “We have installed more than 100 transformers (100kv, 250kv and 500kv) and 12 feeders in Thillai Ganga Nagar, Madipakkam, Nanganallur, Pazhavanthangal and Moovarasampet.”
Two years ago, a proposal to construct a substation at Ravanan Nagar, Puzhuthivakkam was shot down as the site for the project was said to be in a lake area. Several residents welfare associations tried their best to have the proposal revived, in vain. Their argument: The site was too high from the lake area and therefore should not cause an environmental problem.
They argued that if a substation came up there, not only the residents of Ullagaram-Puzhuthivakkam, but also residents of Nanganallur, Pazhavanthangal, Madipakkam, Moovarasampet and a few areas in Velachery would benefit.
‘New substation soon’
“As we could not obtain the NOC for opening a substation in Ravanan Nagar, we are looking at an alternative — constructing a new substation next to the existing substation in Nanganallur,” the Tangedco official says.
“Three months ago, in Ullagaram, more than 25 transformers were installed under the Central government’s Accelerated Power Development Reform Programme (APDRP).
In Balammal Nagar, Ullagaram, a 11kv feeder was installed to divide the load in the area and one more feeder of the same capacity has been sanctioned, which this will be installed soon in Rajeshwari Nagar. Once that is done, the load will be divided further,” says a senior Tangedco official of Ullagaram-Puzhuthivakkam.
Around 10,000 residents from neighbourhoods in Puzhuthivakkam and Ullagaram, including Hindu Colony, New India Colony, Sathya Narayana Street, Rajarathinam Nagar Main Road and Thomas Nagar are expected to benefit from this. Apart from the high-capacity transformers, ten single-pole transformers (25kv) were installed on a few lanes in Ullagaram.
“On lanes, people will protest installation of a huge transformer. So, we install these small transformers there,” the official adds.
