Half of India powerless; Northern, Eastern grids collapse

The Northern and Eastern Grids tripped again on Tuesday, leading to power failure in as many as 14 states of the country affecting hundreds of millions of people. Power supply was disrupted in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam and Sikkim.

The power crisis led to immediate shut-down of Delhi Metro lines in the national capital, while a host of other services including Railways were also affected."It is wrong to allege that UP is overdrawing power," says UP Power Corporation CMD AP Mishra.

The entire north-east region is unaffected. Sikkim, Assam too unaffected, contrary to earlier reports. "The Bhakra Nangal plant has been started and we are drawing hydel power for the time being for Punjab," said Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. "The Western Grid has not been impacted, though there has been overdrawing from the western grid, said general manger, Western Grid.

"The North-Eastern Grid also affected," say officials."The Kolkata Metro is running normal, as supply comes from CAC power supply," stated Pratyush, DGM, Kolkata Metro. "We will try to restore services of Delhi Metro and the Railways first," said Sushil Kumar Shinde

In the South-Eastern Railways, divisions including Kharargpur, Chakradharpur, Ranchi and Agra are affected. Since South-Eastern Railway is completely electrified and not dependent on diesel power, the situation is really bad in this region. Eighty passenger trains of the South-Eastern Railway are stranded. Fourteen trains of Agra division are stranded.

The states affected are Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam and Sikkim. "Hydel power is being sourced for power to Punjab and the government is trying to make alternate arrangements," Shinde.

Almost 500 trains of the Indian Railways are stuck. Six zones including Northern Railway, Eastern Railway and North-Central Railway are affected," said Anil Saxena, CPRO, Indain Railways. Train services have been halted in Asansol, Sealdah and Howrah divisions in West Bengal after failure of the Eastern grid at 1:00 pm, announced the Indian Railways.

The Delhi Police have realeased an advisory to the public avoid the Connaught Place area.The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission issued an order on July 30 to curb overdrawing by Northern Grid member states. All heads of state power transmission companies of the Northern Grid have been summoned on August 14.