Anna Nagar Police Question Civic, Power Officials Over Electrocution Death

The Anna Nagar police on Thursday questioned assistant engineers from the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation (TNPDCL) in connection with the electrocution death of a 59-year-old woman near the Anna Nagar Tower Metro station.

The engineers were summoned to the Anna Nagar police station as investigators examine whether lapses in the execution or supervision of storm water drain work contributed to the fatal incident.

The questioning followed reports suggesting that both civic and power agencies were aware of damaged high-tension (HT) and low-tension (LT) cables during the storm water drain work and that delays in carrying out necessary repairs led to the woman's death. However, officials from both departments rejected these claims, stating that the reports were factually incorrect.

Addressing media reports regarding departmental communications about damaged power cables along Anna Nagar 2nd Avenue, officials stated that the referenced correspondence did not pertain to the location where the woman collapsed, but rather to a different stretch of the same road.

According to Corporation officials, HT cables were running approximately 1.5 feet beneath the road surface. The road had been closed following the completion of storm water drain works 40 days earlier, and officials indicated that power leakage might have occurred due to wear and tear of the road surface over time.

Officials added that cable repairs mentioned in communications with TNPDCL had already been undertaken elsewhere along the stretch. An official stated that the cables had been insulated as a temporary measure, while the communications had specified permanent cable replacement, a process that was taking longer to execute.