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Worst blackout in decade leaves 300m without power

30 Jul 2012 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

NEW DELHI: A massive grid failure in Delhi and much of northern India left more than 300 million people without electricity on Monday in one of the worst blackouts to hit the country in more than a decade.

Power supply in the northern states, that faced blackout since around 2am on Sunday night, was partially restored after nearly 8 hours of disruption.

Seven states of the northern region, including Delhi, had no electricity since 2:32 am following a massive disturbance in the northern grid near Agra in UP. Initial reports said that a total of 35,669 MW power had been affected due to the fault in the grid.

"Yes there are problems with northern grid, we are trying to restore it", said SK Soonee, CEO of Power System Operating Co (PSOC).

PSOC manages the northern power grid. Officials sources said while the exact reasons for the grid failure are being ascertained, overdrawl of power by states could have led to the problem.

The government has set up a 3-member panel to look into the failure of northern Power Grid, according to power minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who took stock of the situation.

In the national capital, the only part of the city that was partially electrified through three units of the Badarpur thermal station was the IGI airport.

"Delhi had a reduction of about 3,500 MW power since the grid disturbance was reported at 2.32am. Emergency power is being supplied through the eastern and western regions," said a senior official.

Sources said that all thermal plants under the northern grid had failed.

"Delhi is also getting emergency hydel power from Bhtuan on a priority basis alongwith power from the PM's residence and AIIMS," said sources.

The last time Delhi and other constituents saw a blackout from the Northern Grid was in 2008 when multiple transmission lines tripped due to fog.

Delhi generates less than 20% of its own power requirement and is dependent on the Northern Grid for the rest.

However, much to the relief of commuters, the Delhi Metro services, which was badly hit since Monday morning, has been restored.

Power supply for public services like hospitals and transport is being restored on a priority basis.

Train services across north India got affected due to the power supply disruption.

Hundreds of passengers were stranded across stations in north India with the movement of trains coming to a standstill.

The whole of Rajasthan, which was one of the states affected due to power supply failure from the Northern Grid, witnessed a complete black out for almost 4 hours between 1 am to 5 am.

In Punjab and Haryana, all major trains like Shatabadi Express, Chandigarh-Chennai train, Sadbhawna Express, Sachkhand Express, Rajdhani Express are among those hit by the grid failure.

(Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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Worst blackout in decade leaves 300m without power

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