ARIYALUR: Residents of Melaramanallur and Keezharamanallur – islets in the Kollidam at Thirumanur block – heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday as power supply was restored to the villages after two days. While a Kollidam, in spate from the Mettur dam discharge and the recent rains, left the villagers stranded, a group of 13 men didn’t think twice to dive into the river and immerse themselves in a four-hour long operation to restore power supply to the villages.
Electricity is supplied to the 350-odd families in the two villages in the middle of the Kollidam by the Sathamangalam power substation via Kuruvadi. Three major pylons carry the supply to the islets, of which the middle one is immersed in the Kollidam. The high voltage supply wires between the pylon on the banks of the Kollidam and the one in the middle, however, dangle dangerously low, almost touching the river. The Kollidam in spate led to waste and thorny foliage to deposit on the wires, cutting off supply to the two islets by Tuesday morning. Residents of Melaramanallur and Keezharamanallur reeled under power outage since then.
On the orders of Tangedco Superintending Engineer Ambiga, officials at Thirumanur led by Assistant Engineer T Prabhakaran and Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) K Rajendran assessed the situation on spot and decided to fix the wires. On Thursday, five workers with the assistance of eight youths from Melaramanallur swam almost a hundred metres in the river to rid the supply wires of waste and foliage. After a four-hour operation by the team, power supply was restored to the villages.
AEE Rajendran said, “When the river is in spate, no one can enter it and fix the supply wires. We contacted the fire and rescue services personnel for this but they said they only assist in rescue operations. Left with no choice, we swam about a 100 metres with the local youth to reach the pylon and fix the wires. It is a very dangerous journey. The river is 20 feet deep.”