The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Power cuts leave residents of southern suburbs fuming

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 27, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Power cuts leave residents of southern suburbs fuming

K. Lakshmi

Production loss sparks discontent among industrial units

The situation is no different in well developed localities of south Chennai

CHENNAI: Frequent power disruptions and voltage fluctuations have become a daily ordeal for residents of several areas in southern suburbs and parts of the city.

For over six months now, residents of Semmencheri and Sholinganallur have been either facing frequent power cuts for long hours almost every day or struggling with low voltage, which is attributed to faults in transformers.

G. Satish, a resident of Semmencheri, said the fact that the two areas along the IT Highway are fast developing have meant little to the households and the small commercial establishments as they have to suffer power failures for at least two or three hours daily. School students are worst affected as they have no option but to study under the light of candles or use emergency lights.

In several households in the areas, electronic gadgets have been damaged owing to the voltage fluctuations. Industrial establishments in the neighbourhood, however, were not affected as severely as the residential colonies, he said.

The problems persist despite repeated complaints to the Fuse-Off Call Centres (FOC) in the two areas, the residents said.

The situation is no different in several well-developed localities of south Chennai. Residents of some localities in Mandaveli, including Vedachala Garden, spent several evenings in the dark over the past few days owing to power failure for at least five hours.

P. A. Ranganathan, a resident of Mandaveli, said though the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) staff responded to their complaints, the power breakdown was recurrent.

There is also a simmering discontent among industrial units in several areas in southern suburbs, including Nagalkeni, Chromepet and Pallavaram, as the frequent power breakdown, lasting several hours, in the past one month has led to production loss. Entrepreneurs in Pallavaram complained that the problem was yet to be addressed despite complaints to the TNEB chairman’s complaint cell and the 24-hour complaint redressal helpline (155333).

When contacted, a senior official of the TNEB said a sub-station in the Perumbakkam region from where areas such as Semmencheri and Sholinganallur get their supply developed problems 10 days ago. As the areas were being fed with electricity from neighbouring sub-stations, it would have resulted in voltage problems.

The official said the power disruption in localities around Pallavaram was caused by breakdown of a transformer. Measures were being initiated to address power breakdowns. In a bid to improve power supply to south Chennai and suburbs, 10 additional sub-stations would be established by April next year, he added.

Another TNEB official said besides the calls to the 56 FOC centres in the city, the 24-hour helpline got 500 calls daily. The complaints would remain in the pending list until information about supply restoration was received from the area offices.

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