The frequent electricity disruptions that occurred in Velachery last month may seem to have been solved only temporarily, and not permanently.
Officials of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) cite old equipment, a phenomenal growth in residential population and lack of space for expansion work in the locality as reasons for the electricity problems.
Talking about planned infrastructure development work, a senior official of Tangedco said that administrative sanction had been given for constructing a new 110/33/11 KV substation inside Phoenix MarketCity mall, at a cost of Rs. 74 crore. It has also been proposed to install an additional transformer of 16 MVA capacity in the existing substation, where three 16 MVA transformers are currently available, and a total of 50 transformers across Velachery, to prevent low voltage fluctuations in various parts of the locality.
While residents’ welfare activists are blaming Tangedco for a failure of the electricity distribution network to keep pace with growth in the locality, the official denied there was any slack in planning for infrastructure development.
The official said in an area that consumes around 30 million units per month, a lack of space in the present 110/33/11 Kilo Volt (KV) substation to carry out expansion work was the major reason for power disruptions.
Venkatesan, a resident of Dhandeeswaram, Velachery, complained that power disruptions continued to occur — though not quite as frequently — for fewer hours on some days.
The official said a comprehensive plan has been worked out to replace the 13 old sets of breaker equipment in the existing substation with new ones, as the repair work involved power shutdowns for long hours. He said power shutdowns had been planned in a staggered manner for executing the renovation work that would be taken up soon.
