Chennai Suburbs Face Hours of Power Cuts After 17 Major Equipment Failures

Residents across Chennai and its suburbs, including Mangadu, Nolambur, Pallikaranai, Kelleys, Vyasarpadi, Avadi, and Pattabiram, faced severe and prolonged power outages in the 24-hour period leading up to Saturday morning due to sudden equipment failures in the distribution network. The Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) recorded 37 major disruptions across the state during this period, with 17 occurring in Chennai and its surrounding neighbourhoods under high power demand.

The outages continued through Saturday, with new disruptions reported in Choolai due to a service cable fault, Royapettah due to a feeder trip, Santhome due to a fire in a pillar box, and Palavakkam due to a high-tension cable fault. These sudden equipment failures left multiple neighbourhoods in darkness for hours.

The prolonged outages caused panic among local residents who complained about a lack of communication from officials regarding restoration times. T Sadagopan, a resident of Pattabiram, reported that his neighbourhood faced power interruptions starting at 4 p.m., with supply only restored at 9:30 p.m. He noted that there was no assurance on restoration times from TNPDCL officials, which made residents panic during the hours-long outage.

According to TNPDCL Chairman and Managing Director Dr J Radhakrishnan, these equipment failures tend to occur in densely populated areas of the city when Chennai’s overall power demand crosses 4,500MW. The high electricity demand puts a strain on the distribution network, leading to sudden faults.

Radhakrishnan stated that the utility is focusing on specific areas where the situation has not improved and has instructed field officers to resolve the issues at the earliest. He added that, overall, the situation is getting better and the number of grievance calls received through Minnagam has also come down.