Residents of Pallikaranai, who suffered from constant disruptions in power supply since Sunday afternoon, finally saw supply restored at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday.
“On Sunday there was no power from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and then we had it for two hours. But the supply which was cut off around 8 p.m. was not restored for another 12 hours. On Monday too, we didn’t have power for nearly 14 hours. How long do we survive like this?” said 68-year-old R. Kalyani, a resident of Pallikaranai.
The power supply to the area failed when the Low Voltage (LV) switch of a transformer in a Velachery substation caught fire on Sunday afternoon, officials of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) said.
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The power that is intermittently supplied has been borrowed from the neighbouring areas. For instance, on Tuesday power was tapped from Kovilambakkam substation on the city’s outskirts for a while.
“We are unable to do anything about this situation because the power supply to the area comes from the Velachery substation. Unless they replace the LV switch, we will have to depend on other substations,” an official of TNEB said.
Sources at TNEB indicate that it may take two or three days to restore power permanently.
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Officials at Velachery substation refused to comment.