Residents of Kilpauk, Anna Nagar, Ayanavaram, Purasawalkam and a few other parts of Central Chennai had to endure a sleepless night on Sunday owing to a major disruption in power supply.
For some residents, there was no power through the night and, for many, there were frequent disruptions lasting over an hour.
With summer at its peak, the residents had to sweat it out.
Those living close to Taylors Road in Kilpauk complained that there was no power through the night. Near Kellys, the residents had to face power cuts between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m. and then again from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. and in the early morning hours too.
TNEB local officials said there was no fault from their side. There was no supply from the main line, said an official at the distribution circle. Stating that only the higher-ups could explain the reason, the local officials said they have had sleepless nights for the past two months.
“Earlier, we had a tough time during the campaign for the elections. Now, we are struggling to stop puncturing of the lines by the Corporation staff digging for stormwater drains,” said a Tangedco engineer.
According to the Tangedco officials, the stormwater drains were being dug all over Kilpauk and that too only during the nights.
Despite their plea to be careful while digging, the Corporation staff use earthmovers to dig and puncture the power lines, the officials said.
Recently, the civic staff had punctured three major cables on Poonamalee High Road and New Avadi Road. “They don’t even inform us. We have to go around checking every street to identify the puncture first and then rectify,” said an engineer. The Tangedco officials had complained to the Corporation and police but the puncturing of power lines had been on for the past two weeks, he lamented.
Corona effect
Tangedco senior officials said that the grid line from North Chennai failed due to the Corona effect on Sunday night. The severe humidity combined with the sea breeze and industrial pollution in Manali area led to the grid failure, the officials said.
There was a major disruption last week when the city went without power from Ennore to T. Nagar. Tangedco officials indicate that the Corona effect could lead to grid failures till the end of summer. Meanwhile, power disruptions continued on Monday.
There was no supply in Alwarpet for over six hours, residents complained.
