ERODE: People living in several hamlets in the hilly regions of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) say they are getting power supply only for a few hours in a day for the past one week.
Officials said power lines get damaged by trees that are uprooted due to strong winds. K Ramasamy, Treasurer of Tamilnadu Tribal People’s Association, said, “For the past one week there has been a severe power cut in Germalam and Thingalur anchayats in Sathyamangalam.
Electricity supply is available only for a few hours every day. There is no power supply at night. People don’t even know if wild animals come into the village. The village administrators are unable to get enough water from the borewells and supply to the villages. Due to this, people, especially school students, are facing a tough situation.”
“When we enquired with officials, they said the power disruption was caused by snapping of Electricity Board (EB) lines. The EB lines in the hill villages were laid four decades ago. The EB infrastructure needs to be modernised,” he added.
A senior TNEB official in Erode said, “The Nilgiris is experiencing continuous rain accompanied by strong winds. Its impact is also felt in the hilly areas of Erode district. Although there is no rain, heavy wind is blowing in hilly areas, uprooting trees. Trees fall on power lines inside the forest causing frequent power cuts.”
“The power line runs for about 70 km from Bannari to Kottamalam via Hasanur, Germalam. There is no problem till Hasanur. The EB line passes through the forest. If we remove trees in one place and resume electricity supply, within hours a tree falls in another place. We cannot enter the forest at night,” he added.
He explained that a substation will soon be set up at Hasanur to solve these problems. “Land has been acquired for setting up a sub-station at Hasanur. The project will be completed within a year. It will help modernise the power infrastructure in hill villages.” he added.
K Sudhakar, Deputy Director of STR and Divisonal Forest Officer, Hasanur Forest Division, said, “The forest department will immediately remove the trees that fell due to strong winds.”
He urged people living along the banks of the river to be careful and no one should enter the river for any purpose.