CHENNAI: From Puzhal in the north to Porur in the west, neighbourhoods along East Coast Road to even Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s Perambur, frustrated residents across the city are hitting the streets to raise their voice against recurring power cuts and voltage fluctuations.
The growing public anger comes nearly a month after a major outage linked to a disturbance in the 400 KV transmission network at Manali and Athipattu, which affected two 230 KV feeders and triggered a cascading effect across parts of North Chennai, leaving several neighbourhoods without power for hours.
Speaking to DT Next, a senior department official said the city had witnessed two major breakdowns in recent weeks, including the Manali transmission disturbance. The official also pointed to a recent incident near Mylapore where two 33 KV lines were damaged, resulting in localised disruptions before supply was restored.
Officials attributed the recurring interruptions to a combination of factors, including increased summer demand, ageing infrastructure, and challenges within the distribution network.
Speaking to DT Next, TNEB chairman and managing director J Radhakrishnan stressed that there was no shortage in power generation. "The challenge lies in the last-mile distribution network," he said, adding that Chennai alone records a demand of around 4,000 MW during peak periods. To put this in context, he compared this to the total demand of Kerala.
He also acknowledged that ageing infrastructure remains a concern. "We are carrying out analysis and based on that, additional substations and capacity addition of transformers will be carried out," he noted. He added, "Our infrastructure is old. In many places, cables need replacement, and additional transformers and capacity have to be added.”
The chairman further pointed out that electricity cables are frequently damaged during road, Metro Water and other civic works, claiming that the utility records around 50 such cable-cut incidents every month, often resulting in localised disruptions.
The officials were forced to sit up and take notice after public anger is spilling on to the streets across the city.
In Vyasarpadi, residents of Sharma Nagar, SA Colony, Sathyamoorthy Nagar and JJ Nagar alleged that repeated power cuts have left families struggling through sleepless nights. "We have not slept well for a month now. There have been countless days when we have spent the night without power," said Somesh of Vyasarpadi.
The frustration spilled onto the streets after a prolonged outage lasting over two hours. Residents alleged that repeated complaints went unanswered, prompting a road blockade on the Sathyamoorthy Nagar main road. The police intervened and persuaded the protesters to disperse after assuring them that the issue would be addressed.
A similar scene played out in Muttukadu, where around 200 residents gathered on East Coast Road demanding action over repeated power cuts. "No one is responding. The toll-free number barely works; they can't just ask us to calm down. The power went out at 8 am and did not come back for five hours," alleged a protesting resident.
Similar complaints continue to emerge from neighbourhoods across the city. Localities including Vyasar Nagar in Vyasarpadi, Mahaveer Garden in Puzhal, Kovur, Gerugambakkam, Ashish Lakshmi Nagar in Alapakkam, RA Puram, Mylapore, Triplicane, and Nungambakkam have all reported frequent power cuts, voltage fluctuations, and low-voltage supply in recent weeks.
"Every day this is a hassle. Two weeks ago, it was even worse. Throughout the day the power kept going on and off. Electricity would come for 10 minutes and then go off again for an hour," said Monisha of Kolathur.