Chennai’s Perambur constituency, represented by Chief Minister Vijay, continues to face persistent power outages, with the latest disruption forcing three private schools attended by over 2,000 students to declare a holiday.
The situation escalated after a transformer in Erukancheri’s MKB Nagar reportedly caught fire and exploded on Tuesday (9 June 2026) night, causing extensive damage and plunging the locality into darkness. Residents said power supply had not been restored even several hours after the incident, leaving households without electricity and water.
According to local residents, the transformer located on 18th West Cross Street in MKB Nagar caught fire allegedly due to poor maintenance. The blaze spread rapidly, damaging a nearby auto-rickshaw and household items inside an adjacent residence. Firefighters from the Vyasarpadi Fire and Rescue Services Station rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control.
The fire reportedly destroyed an auto-rickshaw and several household belongings, including a sewing machine. With the transformer rendered inoperative, electricity supply to the locality remained disrupted through the night and into the following day.
The prolonged outage had a cascading impact on daily life. Residents complained that the lack of electricity also affected water supply, making it difficult for families to carry out basic household activities. Students preparing to attend schools and colleges, office-goers and senior citizens were among those affected.
As power supply remained unavailable, three private schools in the area, attended by more than 2,000 students, declared a one-day holiday.
Residents alleged that power cuts have become a recurring problem across several parts of Perambur, including Vyasarpadi, Sharma Nagar, MKB Nagar, Mullai Nagar and Sathiyamoorthy Nagar. They claimed that frequent and unannounced outages have become a daily occurrence, particularly during the night, causing severe inconvenience and loss of sleep.
The latest incident has further intensified public frustration, with residents questioning why such prolonged disruptions continue in the Chief Minister’s own constituency.
Locals also alleged that repeated attempts to contact Electricity Board officials often go unanswered. According to residents, despite being informed immediately after the transformer fire, officials took considerable time to respond to the situation.
They further claimed that only a few personnel visited the site on Wednesday morning, inspected the damaged transformer and left, while restoration work progressed slowly despite the large number of affected residents.
The incident comes amid growing complaints from residents of Perambur regarding recurring power cuts and infrastructure issues.
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