Coimbatore: After a hectic day at work and schools, inmates of a residential complex at Gandhi Nagar near Masakkalipalayam were about to unwind with their family members around 5pm on Feb 5, when power suddenly went out, turning the atmosphere gloomy. The inmates registered an online complaint and contacted the round-the-clock customer care number. The executive who initially responded collected the details and said a team from Singanallur sub-station would attend to the issue. However, no one visited the area or contacted the complainants for hours together. When residents called the customer care again after a few hours, they were told that physical work could not be carried out late in the evening. They had to spend the entire night without power.This is not an odd incident. Evening power breakdowns have become a headache for the city residents, often turning a relaxing or productive time into a stressful one. The situation worsens when outages go unattended for several hours or until the next morning, making nights nightmarish. A Raja, a resident of Gandhi Nagar, says reaching the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) officials in the evenings is difficult. “Officials say they could attend to the grievances only in the mornings, as foremen are not permitted to climb poles or work on transformers after 6pm. As a result, we are forced to manage long hours without fans, lights or charging phones.” According to him, power outages at nighttimes make it impossible to stay indoors comfortably, especially for children and the elderly. “My son is studying in Class X. He was preparing for the pre-board exam on the day the incident happened. He was unable to study because of the power outage. Officials should ensure quick redressal of complaints and restore power supply during the evening and night hours to prevent prolonged hardship.” N Logu, secretary, Coimbatore Consumer Voice, says there are three fuse off call (FOC) centres in the city, each equipped with a foreman, a line inspector and a superintendent to supervise them. “They have the required equipment to resolve faults that disrupt power supply. But the system is not functioning effectively. Lethargy is the main reason why calls go unattended. The superintendent should monitor the team, and TNPDCL should get feedback from the complainant. If FOC centres work effectively, power supply could be restored soon.” Logu says he had once registered a complaint regarding power breakdown during late hours. “I passed the message to officers, but no one responded till morning. Finally, I called a lineman I knew, informed him about the disruption. He reached the spot and resolved the issue. Since the lineman is known to me, I could contact him directly. Not everyone could do this. General people are suffering because of the official apathy.” A TNPDCL official says the complaints would be attended, and teams would be dispatched to the spot within a few hours when more houses are affected. “For one or two houses, we cannot deploy our team due to safety concerns. If an area is affected by a power outage, our FOC team will reach the spot and resolve the issue as soon as possible.” Efforts by TOI to contact TNPDCL Coimbatore Metro Chief Engineer Suresh Kumar went unanswered.
