TN power utility gears up for northeast monsoon

Chennai, Oct 12 The Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company (Tangedco) has geared up for the northeast monsoon to hit the state in the last week of October.

While the Public Works Department is yet to complete the stormwater drain works in many parts of the state, the Tangedco has geared up for the monsoon.

State Minister for Electricity, Senthil Balaji in a statement on Wednesday said that Tangedco has already set up special teams in all the districts for maintenance and repair during the northeast monsoon period.

The centralized consumer cell of the department, 'Minnagam' will be in operation 24x7, the minister said. He also said that the people can call this number to register any complaint during the monsoon season, and said that instructions have been given to the Tangedco employees to ensure uninterrupted power supply during the northeast monsoon.

The power utility, according to the minister, has 14,442 transformers, 1,50,932 electric poles, and 12,759 km cables in stock as preparations for the northeast monsoon. The department has also replaced 39,616 damaged electric poles and 31,197 fallen poles.

According to the minister, the call centre, Minnagam can receive 60 calls at a time and during monsoon, it will be increased to 75 calls at a time.

Tangedco is already coordinating with the Public works department in the stormwater drain regarding the underground cable work. The power utility is into underground cable work in five zones in Chennai in coordination with the public works department.