CHENNAI: Prolonged power outages lasting through late Saturday gave residents in several parts of Chennai and its suburbs a sleepless night. Being powerless in the heat, frustrated residents in several localities took to the streets demanding immediate restoration of electricity supply.
Residents in south Chennai localities, including Medavakkam, Pallikaranai, Perumbakkam, Sholinganallur, the East Coast Road (ECR) stretch and surrounding areas, experienced power cuts lasting between two and four hours.
The outage that continued late into the night caused considerable inconvenience, particularly amid the prevailing humid weather conditions.
Residents said this was the fourth such protest in recent days over recurring power outages. Traffic on the ECR near Muttukadu was disrupted for nearly an hour due to the protest. Thiruporur MLA B Vijayaraj rushed to the spot and pacified the protesters. Residents argued with the MLA and complained that they have been facing frequent power cuts during night hours for several days.
Speaking to TNIE, J Radhakrishnan, Chairman and Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, said, “The power outages occurred due to tripping and distribution-related issues. The state has adequate power to meet the demand.”
He added, “There is no issue with power availability. The challenge lies in last-mile distribution, including transformer-level issues such as cable faults, fuse failures, cable damage and overloading caused by increased household demand. These issues will be resolved soon.” Radhakrishnan further said, “We are closely monitoring the situation and are committed to providing reliable, quality and uninterrupted power supply to all consumers across the state.”
J Lakshmi, a resident of Perumbakkam, said, “We have been experiencing power outages during night hours for the past few weeks. Many elderly people, women and children are suffering due to lack of proper sleep. Frequent power cuts are also affecting household appliances, including air-conditioners.”
According to official sources, there is a need to strengthen power infrastructure, including substations, transformers and underground cable networks. The Chennai region supplies electricity to nearly 40 lakh consumers through 253 substations and 40,798 transformers. Officials said the existing infrastructure is under increasing stress due to rapid urbanisation, population growth and expanding industrial activity.
