MADURAI: Several residents in the rural segment of Madurai district were frustrated by an 18-hour power outage caused by strong winds and rain that uprooted trees and electricity poles in Vadipatti on Friday night. The power outage that began at 5 pm on Friday evening was resolved by 2 pm on Saturday.
Speaking to TNIE, Former Panchayat president of C Pudur, K M Pandurangan said, “Power cut occurred around 5 pm and we had to spend the entire night in the dark. In the morning, TNPDCL staff came to check and claimed uprooting of the trees caused the power cut. The power was resumed around 1 pm on Saturday afternoon.
Not just C Pudur, two dozen villages including Ayyankottai, Vayalur, Thodaneri, Vairavanatham near Alanganallur and Vadipatti were impacted by an extended power outage. Former Panchayat president of Vairavanatham M Geetha said, “There are more than 1,300 persons in our village. Several trees were uprooted and many poles were also broken and found lying on the corner of the streets and main roads. After several complaints, nothing really happened. Around 3 pm on Friday, the power was restored.”
Another former Panchayat president Ayyankottai, K Nagalakshmi said, “The power outage had put the entire panchayat in complete disarray. This was the first time, we faced such a problem. It resumed at 3 pm on Saturday.”
Speaking to TNIE, an official from TNPDCL (Madurai) said, “Rain and strong winds uprooted the EB poles. We had deployed three teams to assess the situation. The restoration process proved challenging as the power lines ran through plantations and forested areas.”
