Unscheduled powercuts 'overload' residents in Chennai

CHENNAI: Even with TANGEDCO claiming that the summer would be power-cut free with no need for scheduled load-shedding, unscheduled power cuts continue to pile on the misery in different parts of the city.“There are power cuts in the evening between 6 pm and 9 pm and also during the night on some days that lasts for around half an hour,” said Banumathi Selvaraj of Mandaveli.

The Southern suburbs including Tambaram, Selaiyur, parts of North Chennai and areas such as Velachery, Mandaveli and Porur experience frequent unscheduled power cuts. With around 17,500 MW capacity and power demand just hovering around 15,349 MW and with the winds in July expected to bring in yet another 4,000 MW, Tamil Nadu is well placed as a surplus State, according to B Sivakumar, retired Director (Finance), TANGEDCO. 

“However, during the summer the increase in load, especially during the ‘high peak’ time (6 pm to 9 pm) leads to transformer overload at the local level,” he claimed. A TANGEDCO official said, “Except for maintenance purposes, there are no scheduled power cuts anywhere in the city. The 30 to 40 minute time taken for restoration is only for rectification of defects that may arise due to overload.”

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Energy department secretary Vikram Kapur inspected various substations including the 230-KV substation in Taramani, the 110-KV substation in Velachery and the 400-KV substation in Ottiyambakkam. “The complaints received from people can be addressed without delay and smooth distribution can be achieved if all the officials work efficiently,” a statement from TANGEDCO quoting Kapur said.