Chennai: There seems to be no end to the power cut woes and sleepless nights for city and suburban residents.On Saturday night, the residents of Muttukadu, Tiruporur and nearby areas blocked the traffic on ECR and OMR as their areas plunged into darkness. While residents of Perambur thronged the street, agitated over power supply interruptions late in the night, the people in Ponneri took to the 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. Vijayraj informed them that there is a proposal to set up a substation in Nellikuppam. “The issues will be rectified immediately,” he assured the public.Residents of Ambattur had thronged the local TNPDCL office on 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℃ in Meenambakkam and 39.9℃ in Nungambakkam, at least 2.5℃ higher than historical levels. The nights were sultry and uncomfortable, even with ACs and fans on.“This summer, residents across ECR have been facing frequent power cuts and voltage fluctuations that are disrupting daily life, affecting everything from work and education to the operation of household appliances. While the region has witnessed significant residential and commercial development over the past few years, the supporting power infrastructure does not appear to have kept pace with the growing demand,” said Sanjay Chugh, a resident.TNPDCL officials continued to blame the failure of the distribution network for interruptions in power supply. Chief engineer, Kancheepuram, said the interruptions in power supply on ECR and OMR were due to tripping of an 11kV feeder at a 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, a fault at an LT cable was cited as the reason for the interruption, while an 11kV cable fault was blamed for the power cut in Ponneri. On Saturday, Chennai’s power demand was 4,708 MW, and the per-day consumption was 92.2 million units, despite power cuts to different areas.On Sunday too, power cuts plagued different neighbourhoods, including Mambalam, Pudupet, Esplanade, and Parry’s Corner, due to failure of pillar boxes and the Thiru Vi Ka Nagar area due to a feeder trip in Kolathur substation.
