Erratic power supply exasperates residents in Tiruvarur rural pockets

Residents of several rural and semi-urban pockets around Tiruvarur have complained of frequent and unannounced interruptions in power supply from the Neelakudi substation, disrupting life, including damage to household electrical appliances.

The Neelakudi substation serves more than 20 villages, including Neelakudi, Vaipur, Nadappur, Perumpugallur and Thirupayathankudi. It caters to residential localities such as Santhosi Nagar, Arooran Nagar, Uppiliyappan Nagar, Muthamizh Nagar, and Dhanalakshmi Nagar in Keezhakavathukudi panchayat, located close to Tiruvarur town, though they draw supply from a substation nearly 15 km away, the residents said.

They alleged outages occur at least four or five times a day, often without notice. “Frequent power cuts have become routine, affecting daily life and work. Several electrical appliances have been damaged due to repeated outages,” said V. Chitra of Arooran Nagar.

V. Arumugam of Santhosi Nagar said complaints to the power utility had not yielded results. “Every day, power cuts happen four or five times — around 9 a.m., 3 p.m., 6 p.m., and 9 p.m. — affecting many people in different ways,” he said.

The situation, residents said, worsened on Saturday (December 20) when supply was suspended for maintenance work without what they described as a proper announcement, leading to “severe inconvenience” to the people.

When contacted, Executive Engineer Senthamizhselvi said consumers were alerted ahead of full-day shutdown. She said she would look into the complaints regarding frequent interruptions and lack of notice in the Neelakudi supply area.