Chennai
-Prakash KL
Residents of Chennai’s Neelankarai locality staged a late-night protest near Chief Minister Vijay’s residence after long, unannounced power cuts left homes without electricity for hours, amid the ongoing outage issue into the first major public flashpoint for the newly formed TVK government in Tamil Nadu.
Hundreds of people, including children and elderly residents, gathered around a key junction close to Chief Minister Vijay’s street in Neelankarai after midnight, shouting slogans against the Thavek government and the electricity board, and tried to block the East Coast Road when their repeated complaints over power cuts reportedly failed to get a clear response.
Chennai’s Neelankarai residents protested near CM Vijay’s residence on May 25th due to prolonged power cuts, with officials citing transformer faults and heavy load issues. This event marks an early public test for the Thavek government, amid scheduled outages on May 26th in several city areas.
Neelankarai power cuts and protest near Chief Minister’s house
The Neelankarai and ECR stretch, falling under the Sholinganallur constituency where Chief Minister Vijay lives, has been facing severe power cuts for several days, and when supply did not resume for many hours on 25 May night and phone calls to electricity offices brought no firm answers, residents came out of their homes with families to demonstrate.
However, the police and electricity board officials rushed to the protest spot after receiving information, held discussions with the crowd and explained that faults linked to a new transformer and heavy load issues had disrupted supply, and officials assured residents that repairs would be completed soon, after which the gathering dispersed around 2 a.m. on 26 May.
Chennai Power Cut Today
Amid the protests, several areas will witness scheduled power outage on Tuesday, May 26. Over 70 locations will witness power outage.
Here are the affected areas:
T Nagar: Bazzulla Road, Chari Street, Parthasarathipuram, Unnamalaiammal Street, Habibulla Road, Rangan Street, Duraisamy Road, Rajan Street, Arulambal Street, Gandhi Street, Jawaharlal Nehru Street, Ramachandra Iyer Street, Rajapillai Thottam, Mambalam High Road, Kodambakkam High Road, North Usman Road, Rangarajapuram area, Ageez Nagar, Akbarabad, Parangusa Puram, CRP Garden, Mangesh Street, Railway Border Road, Station view Road, Bharathi Street and Tilak Street.
Dasarathapuram: Kaveri Rangan Nagar, KK Salai, Logaiah Colony, Arcot Road, Balaji Nagar, Baskar Colony, Mathialazan Nagar, Venkatesa Nagar, and Arunachalam Road.
Saligramam: Arunachalam Road, Kumaran Colony, Gandhi Nagar, Devaraj Nagar, Arcot Road, and SSR Pankajam Road.
KK Nagar: Bharani Colony, Arcot Road, Kaveri Hospital, Suriya Street, 80 Feet Road, MG Chakkarapani Street, Big Bazaar, and Passport Office.
Virugambakkam: Arcot Road, NSK Lane, and Shamala Tower.
Chinmaya Nagar: Munusamy Street, Kasturi Street, Vinayagam Street, and Kamarajar Salai.
Tiruverkadu: Anandhan Nagar, Chakkareshwari Nagar, Mahalakshmi Nagar, VGN, and Anbu Nagar.
Iyyappanthangal: Mount Poonamallee Road, Pillaiyar Kovil Street, Murugan Kovil Street, JJ Nagar, Amman Nagar, PG Avenue, Indira Nagar, Janakiammal Nagar, Sai Nagar, Vinayagapuram, and Sornapuri Nagar.
These areas will witness outage between 9 am and 2 pm.
Statewide power cuts and political heat over power cuts
Across Chennai and surrounding areas, unscheduled power cuts over the last few days have grown into a wider public grievance, as many neighbourhoods report frequent night-time outages, turning the electricity problem into a significant test for the Thavek administration within days of taking office and giving opposition parties a fresh handle to criticise the government.
Opposition leaders including M.K. Stalin, Udhayanidhi Stalin and Edappadi Palaniswami have charged that administrative weakness under the TVK government created the current electricity strain, and argued that the ruling party had promised uninterrupted power supply during the election campaign but has instead, within a short span after assuming power, left even the capital city in darkness.
Meanwhile, Electricity Minister R. Nirmal Kumar stated that Tamil Nadu is not facing any overall power deficit, and said the recent trouble stems from overload and technical faults in local distribution systems and transformers caused by peak summer demand, adding that restoration and strengthening work is being carried out on a war-footing to stabilise supply in affected pockets.
Political observers note that a protest breaking out right beside the Chief Minister’s residence, despite official assurances of quick repair work and claims of no state-wide shortage, signals an early wave of public displeasure with the new government’s handling of power cuts and highlights how electricity reliability has become a central concern for many households.
