Large parts of Chennai were plunged into darkness for several hours during the early hours of Monday, and again in the evening.
The residents not only suffered from power disruption but also faced constant fluctuations. The fears of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) about the Corona Effect hurting transmission lines came true this year. The power disruptions were experienced by residents right from Ennore to T. Nagar.
A senior official of Tangedco said the transmission lines of 400 kilovolt (KV) and 230 KV from generating stations at Ennore were affected by severe humidity, combined with the sea breeze leading to the Corona Effect.
The Corona Effect caused by high humidity, industrial pollution and sea breeze causes a kind of discharge that damages the transformers, capacitors and insulators in the power grid.
The electricity board official said five feeders, including 400 KV of Manali, Alamathy, Vallur and two 110 KV feeders, tripped around 2 a.m. on Monday. While three feeders were back charged within a few hours two feeders heading towards Kaladipet covering Thiruvottiyur and nearby areas were restored only by 10 a.m.
Ma Ki Ramanan, a resident of Village Street, Thiruvottiyur, complained the residents in his locality had to endure a sleepless night with power supply getting normalised only by Monday evening.
Residents in Sholinganallur, Taramani, Perungudi, Velachery and nearby areas suffered due to voltage fluctuations because of a technical snag in the 110-KV Kits Park substation carrying power through Pallikaranai Marshland.
A senior official of South Chennai said a technical snag caused power to be shutdown for a few minutes for back-feeding to some areas served by the Taramani substation. However, residents were only given a two-phase power supply against the normal three-phase.
