Midnight power cuts trigger fresh protests across Chennai

CHENNAI: Sporadic public protests against recurring night-time power outages continued across Chennai and its suburbs on Monday, with residents in Ambattur and Mangadu staging a road blockade and consumers in Madipakkam gathering at a TNPDCL section office, demanding immediate supply restoration.

The city has been experiencing sweltering conditions since May 20, and repeated power disruptions ranging from brief interruptions to outages lasting several hours have caused considerable hardship, particularly for children and senior citizens.

On Monday night, several south Chennai localities, including Madipakkam, Nanganallur, Puzhuthivakkam, Medavakkam, Moovarasampet, Manapakkam and Kilkattalai, were plunged into darkness around 9.45 pm after a 33 kV transmission line feeding the Madipakkam substation from the Perumbakkam substation developed a fault. The disruption occurred when the Madipakkam substation was already facing supply constraints due to a fault in a power transformer connected to the Pallikaranai source.

TNPDCL officials later said on X that supply was restored after rectification of the Perumbakkam transmission line fault at around 1 am. However, at 3.20 am, Keerthi Vasan, a social media user, rejected the TNPDCL claim, stating that the power supply was not yet restored in Madipakkam.

Mangadu residents staged a road roko outside the Mangadu substation protesting a three-hour-long power cut on Monday night. Meanwhile, residents of Meenambedu and Kallikuppam in Ambattur staged a road roko on the Ambattur-Puzhal Road near the Kallikuppam section office, alleging that they had been facing frequent night-time power cuts for the past week.

"There has been frequent power disruption in Manapakkam (Ward number 157). Repeated calls to helplines and engineers were not at all helpful," said V Nagarajan, a resident from Manapakkam Marvel Review County.

According to TNPDCL, power supply to the Meenambedu substation was disrupted at about 9.25 pm due to a fault in the 33 kV TI Cycle-Meenambedu feeder. When officials attempted to restore supply through the 33 kV Korattur feeder, an operational issue resulted in faults on the 33 kV Korattur and Avadi feeders as well.

The utility said supply through the Korattur feeder was restored by 10.10 pm, enabling electricity to be provided through seven 11 kV feeders. By 10.50 pm, power was restored through the Avadi feeder to four additional 11 kV feeders.

During the outage, a group of consumers assembled near the substation and engaged in a road blockade and heated exchanges with officials.

TNPDCL said supply was restored to all consumers by 11.10 pm. However, supply was disrupted again later, and maintenance personnel continued restoration work through the night. Residents alleged that repeated outages and delayed restoration had become a recurring problem in several neighbourhoods.