Chennai: To avoid power cuts during the ongoing school examination season, Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation (TNPDCL) has instructed field officers to not carry out any planned maintenance activities that require curtailing power supply until the examinations are over. The order is applicable to Chennai city and all districts across the state.TNPDCL distribution section offices carry out periodical maintenance work at substations, feeders and transformers in their jurisdiction, for which power supply would be suspended for at least five hours—from 9am to 2pm. Sometimes, power supply resumed much later than the promised time due to the gravity of the work. Maintenance work is often intensified during summer due to the lower probability of unforeseen weather events.School students preparing for Class XII and X board exams during Feb, March and April suffered due to day-long power cuts. To address this, state govt a few years ago instructed TNPDCL not to carry out maintenance works during the exam season. With CBSE exams already underway, TNPDCL recently issued a circular to all field officers regarding the issue.In Chennai and its neighbouring districts, maintenance work has been stalled since Tuesday. “Permission for regular maintenance will not be given until April. Only under unavoidable circumstances will field officers be allowed to suspend power supply to carry out emergency work,” said a senior TNPDCL official.
