TNPDCL to add night crews for power-disruption complaints in Chennai

Tamil Nadu’s power-distribution corporation has ordered additional workers to respond to faults in Chennai and nearby areas between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m.

The decision follows complaints about staff shortages across Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL), including its operations units and substations. A senior corporation official said the directive to engage private workers was discussed at a September 25 virtual meeting attended by the distribution director and senior engineers.

Contractors are to be engaged daily as linemen, wiremen and helpers. During the night shift, from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., they are expected to respond to outage complaints and help restore supply more quickly. Thirty additional workers are to be made available across 16 section offices in the Chennai region, including Perambur and Villivakkam. Ten more are planned for other section offices in Chennai and the Kancheepuram region.

Senior engineers were also directed to arrange extra staff at distribution substations operating at 33, 110 and 230 kilovolts. The meeting separately decided that overhead power lines crossing government school premises should be shifted immediately.

The discussion comes amid residents’ complaints about outages and nighttime protests in parts of the city. Consumer activist T. Sadagopan said interruptions are frequent in Pattabiram and called for faster upgrades to local substations. The Hindu reported that work to upgrade the Avadi substation to 230 kV is progressing slowly, while work at Pattabiram has yet to begin.