15 days required to restore power in rural areas: Thangamani

In an official statement, Thangamani said power supply has been restored in some emergency areas such as government hospitals and primary health centres.

“14,500 EB workers are working round the clock to set things right in the affected areas. Apart from them, 15,000 workers from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are also helping in the restoration works,” he said.

Close to 1 lakh electric poles were damaged due to the cyclone. Urban areas have been given priority with most of the urban areas receiving power on Monday.

In Nagapattinam district, electricity supply had been restored in 87 per cent of urban areas, while in Thanjavur district 95 per cent of the urban areas received power supply. 50 per cent of the urban areas in Pudukkottai and Tiruvarur districts also got power.

Thangamani said, “Power will be restored in all the urban areas in another two days, but in rural areas it will take at least 15 days.”

Till Monday, 98,788 electric poles and 846 transformers had sustained damages. “Pudukkotttai district is the worst affected as more than 40,000 transformers were damaged. More attention is being given to Pudukkottai district to ensure that power supply is restored at the earliest”, said Thangamani.

He appreciated the TNEB workers for working round the clock. The electricity department has also extended the deadline for payment of electricity bills to the end of November without any fine.

“The work of estimating the loss suffered by Tangedco is going on and will be finalised soon,” he added.