The power supply to nearly 66,700 houses in Chennai has been disconnected due to rain and waterlogging.
Electricity Minister V. Senthil Balaji said the electricity department has taken preventive measures to avoid untoward incidents in the city.
“Due to rains, power supply has been affected in only 1.5 per cent of Chennai, where there is severe waterlogging. Power supply is [being] restored on a war footing basis, immediately after water is pumped out," he told the media.
There are 44 lakh electricity service connections in Chennai and its suburbs.
Out of the 223 substations supplying power in the city, supply from two stations at BMC and Kodambakkam was suspended due to heavy waterlogging, the minister said, adding that the stations were in a low-lying area.
Several areas in the city and its suburbs including localities like Tambaram, Ambattur, Medavakkam, Mogappair, Perungudi and Perambur have been without power for over 10 hours due to incessant rains. “Water is pumped out from the substations frequently,” Balaji said. Out of the 1,057 feeders, around 71 have stopped power supply, while 659 of the 34,047 transformers in Chennai have stopped supply.
In Chennai alone at least 4,000 linemen and other technical staff are at work at the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd Consumer Services (TNAGEDCO). 12,000 people are at work in nine districts that have been facing continuous rains. Overall, the state has 36,000 linemen and technical staff and around 4,000 engineers that have been pressed to work, the minister said.
TANGEDCO has 132,000 new electricity poles and 1,070 new transformers, which have been kept ready for replacing those getting damaged due to rains.
So far, 14 people have lost their lives following the heavy rainfall in the city.
