CHENNAI: Four families in Pulianthope have sought action against a foreman working for Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (TNPDCL), alleging that they were left without electricity for more than a month due to official inaction and that the official behaved disrespectfully towards women during the repair process.
According to a petition submitted by residents of TVK Nagar 9th Street, an underground power cable supplying electricity to their houses developed a fault on May 15, cutting off power to all four households.
Despite filing a complaint with the Pulianthope TNPDCL office and making repeated visits to follow up, the residents alleged that the repair was delayed as officials cited a shortage of staff. “Foreman Venkatesan told us that the department did not have workers to dig a trench for laying a replacement cable and asked us to arrange the work through a private contractor,” a resident alleged. “He also shared the contractor’s contact number. However, the contractor did not answer our calls, and we had to suffer without electricity for more than a month.”
According to the petition, contract workers eventually arrived on June 13 for repairs and collected Rs 2,500 from residents for digging the trench. The residents fumed that the existing main power cable remained live during the work.
When one of the residents, Subha, contacted Venkatesan for disconnecting the power supply so that the new cable could be laid safely, he replied using abusive words and was disrespectful.
INTUC state secretary V Sathiyabalan pointed out that power fault repair works should be carried out only by utility employees and not contract workers. “Handing over such works to contract workers has led to complaints of illegal collection of money from the public. Action should be taken against the officials responsible for delaying the repair work, allowing money to be collected from poor residents, and assigning the work to contract labourers,” he said.
Responding to the allegations, a TNPDCL official said that the utility had received a complaint accusing the foreman of behaving disrespectfully towards women and had initiated an inquiry. “A detailed report has been submitted by the AD to the Superintending Engineer. Appropriate action will be taken within two days of receiving official reply,” the official said.