CHENNAI: Frequent power outages reported across Chennai and its suburbs in recent weeks was caused by the theft of electrical equipment, Electricity Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar said on Monday. Addressing reporters at the TNEB headquarters, the minister said field inspections and CCTV footage has revealed that unidentified persons have stolen nearly 150 to 200 High Rupturing Capacity (HRC) fuses from various locations.
“Video footage from Avadi shows unknown persons opening pillar boxes and removing HRC fuses. These thefts have not only caused financial losses to the utility but have also resulted in repeated power supply interruptions,” he said.
The minister added that a police complaint would be lodged to identify those involved and recover the losses suffered by the utility. Nirmal Kumar was speaking after a function at the TNEB headquarters where promotion orders were issued to 300 Assistant Executive Engineers elevated as Executive Engineers.
Announcing that around 15,000 vacancies across various wings of the electricity department would be filled by the end of the year, the minister said the government was committed to ensuring transparent recruitment and promotion processes.
“Our priority is to fill vacancies in a phased manner and provide promotions transparently without any scope for bribery,” he said. Referring to the promotions, the minister said several engineers had been waiting for career advancement for more than 15 years despite favourable court orders.
“We have now promoted 300 engineers without delay and without any corruption. The TVK government is committed to eliminating bribery and ensuring transparency in administration,” he said.
Pointing out that several transformers had been in operation for more than two decades and required replacement or capacity enhancement, the minister said, “Our immediate focus is to undertake repair works and clear pending infrastructure bottlenecks. Adequate funds for power infrastructure development will be provided in the forthcoming budget.”