CHENNAI : Power disruption, voltage fluctuations have become routine in the southern suburbs such as Gowriwakkam, Sembakkam, Rajakilpakkam and Madambakkam.

In the residential parts of these suburbs, the voltage plunges to 150-170 volts for a major part of the day.

Residents say they also spend sleepless nights due to unscheduled power interruptions.

Colonies such as Eswari Nagar, Sri Rajarajeswari Nagar, Kasturi Nagar, Bajanai Koil Street, Durga Colony in Sembakkam, Burma Colony suffered a black out for about two hours from 9 p.m. on April 8. Several residents who turned up at the Assistant Engineer's office at Kamarajapuram were given a standard reply — Power supply will be restored shortly.

Local TNEB officials acknowledged that there was a major fault in the supply line from Kadaperi and Perumbakkam. They arranged restoring supply in a phased manner.

The sudden spurt in the number of people installing air conditioners was a reason for overload and subsequent tripping of power supply, they said.

Residents of neighbouring Chitlapakkam also complained of voltage fluctuations. The Chitlapakkam Muthulakshmi Nagar Welfare Association had asked the authorities to set up a transformer near Saradambal Street Extension to overcome voltage fluctuations in Muthulakshmi Nagar.

On April 22, power supply was disrupted in many areas of Sembakkam and Gowriwakkam as a lorry rammed a lamppost near Perumbakkam sub-station. It took two hours to replace the post and restore supply in phases.

On Sunday last, Sembakkam and Kamarajapuram suffered a major black out due to a cable "puncture" and it took over six hours for the authorities to restore supply. They said the staff worked overtime by making alternate arrangements to restore power as soon as possible.

A senior Board official said they had run into a legal wrangle over the construction of towers to carry the HT lines. While 10 towers had been built for transmission lines, one could not be built due to a land dispute. If the problem was resolved, then the supply position could be improved.

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