Many parts of Chennai were shrouded in darkness in the late hours of Thursday, as a fire at a substation in North Chennai caused a massive power cut across the city.

While the first reports of power outages came in at about 10.30 pm, electricity was restored to most parts of the city by 2:00 in the morning.

“A fire accident at the Manali substation has disrupted power in most parts of the city,” read a statement from the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO), which is the state-run power distribution company.

The statement added that a bypass line was being readied to restore power to most parts of the city, while the TN Fire & Rescue teams were working on dousing the fire. It is unclear was caused the fire accident in the first place.

As the fire raged on, blackouts were reported in prime residential neighbourhoods like Nungambakkam, Adyar, Thiruvanmiyur and Kilpauk. Major portions of arterial roads like Anna Salai and EVR Periyar Salai were also plunged into darkness.

While some of these localities, like Nungambakkam and RA Puram, saw power restored by 12.30 am, others like Purasaiwalkam and Thiruvanmiyur waited till 2 am for the power cut to end. As of 2.30 am, localities like Adyar had not seen restoration of power.

South Chennai, especially areas like the Rajiv Gandhi IT Expressway, Perungudi and Thoraipakkam were the most affected and were some of the last neighbourhoods to see power restored.

“The power outage & blackout is a matter of concern. I spoke to TANGEDCO officials just now and they are working to restore power at the earliest,” said South Chennai MP, Thamizhachi Thangapandian in a post on social networking site X, “Please be patient and vigilant. Will update as soon as possible.”

Manali, where the fire accident occurred, is home to Chennai’s primary thermal power stations and accounts for a large chunk of coal-based power generation.

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