Chennai,  With the northeast monsoon predicted to hit Tamil Nadu by the last week of October, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company (Tangedco) is in last-minute preparations.

Tangedco has appointed Superintending Engineers of all the circles as special officers with two safety teams functioning under them, The teams will be equipped with tree-cutting machines, earth movers, and other materials required for any emergency.

The pedestals of pillar boxes in all flood-prone areas have been raised by one metre to prevent any inundation leading to power cuts. During the 2021 monsoon when substations in some areas were inundated, the neighbouring areas faced power failure for several days.

To avoid moisture forming on the equipment in the substation, heaters, and heating equipment have been procured in necessary quantities.

Chennai Central Circle's Superintending Engineer said that pillar boxes have heightened in 861 locations, and works in another 635 areas will be completed in a week's time.

The Tangedco officials also said that the pillar boxes in many places under the Chennai North Circle and Central circle have already been placed on the pedestals and officials said that this would help in keeping them safe and functional in cases of inundation.

Pruning of trees and maintenance of transformers is being carried out across the state on a war footing. Tangedco officials told IANS that the Superintending Engineers are in charge of each circle across the state for maintenance and pruning of trees and a deadline has been set for these miscellaneous works to be completed by the end of this week.

A senior Tangedco official told IANS that the department is for a foolproof mechanism to prevent any power outage during northeast monsoon and that all precautions have been taken to prevent inundation of pillar boxes and transformers.