CHENNAI: There seems to be no end to the power cut woes for city and suburban residents as it has become a routine for them to throng the local TNPDCL office and roads to vent out their frustration and anger of not being able to sleep as nights get uncomfortably sultry.On Saturday night, the residents of Muttukadu, Thiruporur and nearby areas blocked the vehicular traffic on ECR and OMR as their areas plunged into darkness, while residents of Perambur too thronged the street, agitated over interruptions late in the night. In Ponneri too, residents reached streets to protest perennial power cuts during night hours for the last 20 days.Residents of Tiruporur surrounded their MLA B Vijayraj when he visited the spot to pacify the crowd and demanded action against the officers concerned. Vijayaraj informed them that there is a proposal to set up a substation in Nellikuppam. “It would take some time to erect a substation. For now, the problems that occur would be rectified immediately,” he assured.It may be noted that residents of Ambattur thronged the local TNPDCL office Friday night and got into an argument with the personnel citing prolonged power cut in their area.Residents’ anger was palpable as Chennai recorded the highest temperature among the districts with 40.4 degree celsius in Meenambakkam and 39.9 degree celsius in Nungambkkam, which were at least 2.5 degree celsius higher compared to historical data. The nights were sultry and uncomfortable even with ACs and fans on. However, TNPDCL officials continued to blame failure of the distribution network for interruptions in power supply. Chief engineer, Kancheepuram, said the interruptions in power supply on ECR and OMR was due to tripping of a 11kV feeder at 33kV substation in Tiruporur. “The feeder trip was due to failure of the HT cable. The fault was isolated and rectified around 1 am,” said the official.In Perambur too, fault at an LT cable was cited as the reason for the interruption, while a 11kV cable fault was blamed for power cut in Ponneri.On Saturday, Chennai’s power demand was 4708 MW and the per-day consumption was 92.2 million units (Mu), despite power cuts to different areas, indicating higher demand during night hours. On Sunday too, power cuts plagued different neighbourhoods including Mambalam, Pudupet, Esplanade, Parry’s Corner, due to failure of pillar boxes and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar area due to a feeder trip in Kolathur substation.
