DMK government made R.K.Nagar, a power-surplus constituency

Chennai: RK Nagar helped the former chief minister Jayalalitha return to the legislative assembly after she had been acquitted by the Karnataka high court in a disproportionate assets case. When Jayalalitha won the by-election the RK Nagar constituency hoped for a brighter future with a VIP status. But an RK Nagar resident Balaraman says, "The former chief minister never visited the constituency once she won the byelection".

Jayalalitha neglected her own constituency:

Though RK Nagar attained its glory at present it was a constituency that suffered frequent power cuts for nearly 15 years. M.K. Stalin transformed this constituency into a power surplus constituency with no power cuts at all.

RK Nagar constituency consists of Kodungaiyur, Old washermenpet, new washermenpet, korukkupettai, and thandaiyarpettai. RK Nagar's unique identity lies in Kasimedu. Because Kasimedu is Tamilnadu's biggest fishing harbour. Even though there aren't any big industries or factories, the ever-buzzing RK Nagar is always filled with fishermen, buyers and sellers.

As it was an old constituency without any planned infrastructure, you may find the streets to be very narrow and congested. In the streets, the electric boxes were lying very low. electricity staff have had to cut power to prevent electrocution during rainy days.

Developments within a year of DMK government:

RK Nagar remained a VIP constituency just for its namesake during the last AIADMK rule. Even though governments change, the scenario of North Chennai never attained any development. But this belief was shattered by M.K.Stalin's government. Once DMK regained its power in RK Nagar, the Chief Minister took special care with excessive attention to the welfare of the constituency. MLA JJ Ebenezer under the leadership of the Chief Minister redeemed the RK Nagar constituency from the disasters made by Mandous and Chennai floods.

TANGEDCO employee shares that, "Ward 47 and 49 are the hub of micro and small businesses. To reduce the power cuts for the sake of its commercial value we made Ring main unit conversion. Transformed nearly 12 RMU conversions. Usually, heavy rains will make it difficult to keep the power on in water-logged areas. But during the last cyclone, TANGEDCO made sure that there was no power cut in this area. Because we raised the electric pillar boxes above 5 feet. By raising the base of the electric boxes there wasn't a need to cut the power supply during rain or cyclone".

No power cut in RK Nagar during the Chennai floods:

He added, "Even if the flood level rises there won't be any problem with these electric boxes. So we continued supplying the power to the flood-affected areas without any trouble. MLA Ebenezer provided a separate place to construct an additional power station. We are planning to shift to the new power station from the Korukkupettai power station. Thus, there won't be any kind of power cuts in the future for this particular constituency".

A resident of RK Nagar states, "Year before even for the tiniest drizzle we got to face the power cut issue. But now as the electric pillar boxes were raised we didn't face any power shutdown during the cyclone. All these transformations happened within a year and a half since the DMK government came to rule. Even the former Chief Minister Jayalalitha failed to bring all these developments to her own constituency".

"Thandaiyarpettai 38th and the 40th wards faced power overloading issues. Even though the area is small, the population is very high in these two wards. So the power supply was scarce. 49 electric transformers were supplying electricity to nearly 19 thousand consumers. Due to high usage, the transformers were always in need of constant repairs. The employees from the local power station raised the issue to the respective officials. Yet so many consumers made an official complaint to 'Minnagam'.

When the complaint was made Minister Senthil Balaji visited the Minnagam station where he happened to attend the complaint phone call. He expressed his concern and the very next day he visited the Thandaiyarpettai power station. He discussed the problem with the respective officials. Once he got to know about the high voltage issue he immediately ordered to construct new transformers for adequate power supply.

15 years old electrical equipments:

The government bought nearly 23 new transformers in the last year. Everything was installed immediately. At present, there were no high voltage problems. The power supply is steady without any complications. The major reason for this is the aid of Minister Senthil Balaji under the leadership of Chief Minister MK Stalin.

For the past 15 years, the electric boxes in the Buckingham canal route remained damaged. During heavy rains, the flood will be released through this Buckingham canal route. At that time all the electric boxes were submerged in the water. As a precautionary step, electricity will be stopped around this area. Only after 3 or 4 days, the electricity supply will be given to the people of this area.

But now in this DMK governing period nearly 45 pillar boxes were raised. 15 pillars were constructed newly. all these electric pillar boxes were raised 3 feet from their original position. This method safeguarded the electric boxes during heavy rain. Shivaji Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Parameshwari Nagar people were the most benefitted people from these transformations. Initially, there were 49 transformers and now 23 transformers were newly constructed for this area. And also there will be 11 new transformers to be installed soon in this particular region.

DMK regained RK Nagar after 25 years:

A resident explained, "There are nearly 2.60 lakh consumers in this constituency. In RK Nagar alone there are 67 thousand consumers. As it is a coastal area all the houses are smaller in construction but larger in population. So the need for electricity is high. The government constructed 4 additional power stations from RK Nagar alone".

MLA Ebenezer, "After 25 years our DMK government regained its power in RK Nagar. The sole reason for this victory is Chief Minister MK Stalin. Only CM MK Stalin made RK Nagar, a DMK fort. There were no transformations made in this constituency for the past decade in terms of electricity. Through Minister Senthil Balaji, The Chief Minister made note of the issues and rectified them immediately".

Amenities by CM Stalin:

MLA Ebenezer adds that "All the transformers in our constituency were modified to RMU. This wasn't an easy job at all. All the pieces of equipment related to the electricity board were brought new to adopt modern technology. The Cyclone never affected the electricity at all. I recently requested three additional new power stations to the Chief Minister which received immediate approval".