Chennai: The widening of the Chennai-Tiruvallur road seems to have created a different kind of problem for the residents of Pattabiram. They are now complaining about long hours of power cut in the last few days due to the shifting of power cables, poles and transformers for the widening of the road.
Power lines are being shifted as part of the state highways department proposal to take up Rs 98 crore-project to widen the 22-km-long stretch of the CTH Road into a four-lane facility.
Augustine Roy Rozario, founder and general secretary of People’s Voice, said that the power went off at 10 am on Friday and was restored only at 8 pm for shifting a transformer to enable CTH road widening work.
“We have been facing frequent power cuts during the night for the past two months. But the situation got worse when the work on shifting power line in Pattabiram stretch of CTH road started recently. We started to face power cuts even during the day,” he said.
Mr Rozario said that lack of coordination between Tangedco and highways department has been causing lot of hardship for the residents. “If all new poles are erected in the stretch at a time, the line can be shifted easily. But the works are taken up part-by-part creating troubles for the residents,” he said.
A Tangedco official denied complaints of long hours of power cut in Pattabiram due to line shifting work. “The power supply to Pattibiram area will be suspended when the shifting work is underway. Power disruption will not last for more than an hour,” the official said, adding that there will not be any power cuts once the work on the VAO office and Nemilicherry stretch of CTH road is completed.
