Power restoration work under way: Thennarasu

CHENNAI: With the heavy rain and strong winds lashing the city owing to severe cyclonic storm Michaung, most parts of Chennai and its adjoining districts faced power outages from the wee hours of Monday due to flooding and damages caused by cyclonic winds to distribution and transmission infrastructures.

Though the power supply was switched off in several areas, as a precautionary measure, from Sunday late night, the power supply to the rest of the city got affected when the 400 KV substations at Manali and Pulianthope got tripped and all the sub stations connected to it went offline.

After inspecting the IIT-M substation, Finance and Electricity Minister Thangam Thennarasu told the reporters that faults at 400 KV substations led to power outages in the city and suburbs at around 4.30 am today. “All the substations connected to it were impacted. Now we have brought back two 400 kV substations at Manali and Pulianthope,” he said. He added that works are underway to restore the 230 KV and 110 KV substations. He noted that 110 KV substations at Kodambakkam, Padi, Perungudi, IIT and Perumbakkam were flooded.

In some places, the power supply has been disconnected as a safety measure. In other places, the power outages were due to damages to overhead power lines caused by tree branches or uprooting of trees and flooding of the streets, he said, adding that after the rain stops, the power supply would be restored in areas where it was stopped as a safety measure.

“In places which faced outages due to damages to power lines and flooding, the supply would be restored in a phased manner after the water level recess. To ensure speedy restoration, we are bringing workers from the neighbouring districts,” he said, adding that the extent of damages would be known only in the aftermath of the cyclone.