15-hour power outage in North India as transmission collapses

Electricity supply was completely restored by evening.

The northern transmission grid collapsed at 2.35 AM, plunging Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chandigarh into darkness.

Railways and Delhi Metro came to halt for a few hours in the morning, as power supply to them was disrupted. While 300 trains were delayed, Metro commuters in the National Capital had a harrowing time.

Water supplies in major cities were also hit.

Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said a three-member committee has been formed to inquire into grid failure. "The panel will submit its report in the next 15 days," he said.

He said, "The fault is not known as yet... Somewhere near Agra, a failure has happened. We will inquire..."

Meanwhile, Delhi Power Minister Harun Yusuf blamed UP, Haryana and Punjab for over drawing power from the grid and causing it to trip.

"The grid collapsed due to overdrawal of power by Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab," Yusuf said.

The supply was restored in phases. The grid was made completely functional after 15 hours.

"We have completely restored the Northern Grid. Right now, there is about 28,000 to 30,000 MW available in the grid," PowerGrid Corp CMD R N Nayak told PTI in the evening. MORE