Crumbling electricity posts in Ponmar cry for attention

They have urged the electricity board to replace the posts before the north east monsoon.Ponmar village panchayat, the rapidly growing suburb is located near the Old Mahabalipuram Road. The village consists of nine wards with a population of around 10,000 people. Many who are working in the corporate and IT companies on the Rajiv Gandhi Road have made it their home.

However, the local residents complained that many electricity board power transmission posts in Malai Street, Periya Street and Polaichery are more than 50 years old and could collapseany time.

“In most of the streets, the EB posts are in the middle of the road since they were placed 50 years ago and the roads have got extended after that. As a result of this, the posts are obstructing the road, only two-wheelers and auto-rickshaws can travel on the road,” said Sarvesh, a resident of Ponmar.  

Sources said that during Cyclone Vardah in 2016, many EB posts were broken and the village remained in the dark for nearly a month.

Another resident, R Rupesh, said that they fear that something similar might happen during the monsoon this year. “We want the TNEB to replace the old posts as soon as possible. And also in many places the overhead cables are very week and low often resulting in a short circuit,” he said.

When contacted, the Mambakkam TANGEDCO Sub Station Assistant Engineer R Prabhakar said, “We don’t have enough stock of posts now. We have applied for new posts and after getting them, all the old ones will be replaced with the help of local body.”