A home baker in the city says frequent power disruptions in the last few weeks are affecting his business. The disruptions are not announced and he does not know when the supply will resume. “I cannot afford to invest in a generator. I have committed cake delivery schedules every day to my customers. If there is a disruption in power supply, I am unable to meet the schedule and lose customers. On most occasions, the disruptions are because of tree branches falling on power lines, etc., in the neighbourhood. And the officials attend to it immediately,” the baker said.
A resident of Kalveerapalayam said even on Friday morning there was no power supply between 9 a.m. and 10. 30 a.m. Such disruptions are common, the resident said.
According to K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause, the main problem this year is because of heavy winds. “There are maintenance-related issues. But, the real solution is to take the power cables underground. There is no power shortage and so there is no power cut,” he said.
An official of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation explained there were frequent power disruptions 10 or 15 days ago. “At that time, as many as 845 electricity poles were damaged. Now the situation is normal.” This year, winds and lightning are heavy. So there are instance of equipment damages and breakdowns. Because of heavy winds, there are many cases of tree branches and even trees falling on power lines and poles. Though there is a shortage of workers, whenever there is a complaint, the field staff attend to the issues immediately, the official said.