The Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) has justified the exemption of Chennai from long hours of load shedding, stating that uninterrupted power supply to the capital city is very much essential for the welfare of the entire State.
The corporation stated that it was implementing load-shedding for 8 to 12 hours across the State, except Chennai. Following a direction from the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, P Bagavathiraj, the Chief Engineer of the Commercial Department of TANGEDCO, filed an affidavit on Thursday, stating that the State capital had several establishments such as the Legislative Assembly, High Court, Secretariat and a major chunk of State machineries, including organisations owned and controlled by the State, Consulates, International and National Airports, port, major hospitals and police headquarters. Besides, Chennai also served as a tourism and business hub and as connecting city for national and international tourists visiting other parts of Tamil Nadu.
The authorities stated that long hours of load shedding would cause hardship in Chennai, which had multi-storied domestic and commercial buildings with lifts, besides hospitals. As such, uninterrupted power supply to Chennai was essential for the welfare of the entire State.
Citing Karnataka’s example, they pointed out that Bengaluru, the capital city of Karnataka, had been totally exempted from load shedding.
Elaborating on the power scarcity the State was experiencing, the power managers said there was a net deficit of about 4,000 mw, during peak hours and day time as well.
Detailing the measures taken to address the crisis, the TANGEDCO official stated that as per the directions of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, a high-level committee comprising nine members met every Monday to review the power position in the State.