Kalaignar centenary hospital power outage: ‘Check service cable and equipment health in all GHs', directs TNPDCL

CHENNAI: After a recent power blackout at Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital (KCSSH), Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (TNPDCL) has instructed its officials to inspect all the government and major private hospitals to check the service cables’ health and equipment efficiency on the consumer side.

In a direction to the city’s executive engineers, TNPDCL said that a power blackout occurred in a major Government Hospital in the city recently after the consumer side LT cable was found burnt, thereby interrupting supply. “To avoid such incidents in the future, the engineers, along with concerned public works department (PWD) officials, should inspect all Government Hospitals to check the healthiness of service cables and equipment. Similarly, officials along with respective electrical supervisors must check the major private hospitals. A report on the inspection must be submitted within two days,” the instruction said.

The power supply to KCSSH was affected for around two hours after a cable fire occurred in the hospital premises, on November 16. The cables linked to the diesel generators were also laid in the same trench where cables of the main supply were laid and both caught fire preventing auto changeover, the official said.

A TNPDCL official said that they are examining if the auto changeover takes place for alternative power supply in case of interruptions on the utility’s end. The reports of the inspection have been sought, and rectification measures, will be initiated, said officials.