For the second time in two days, half of India plunged into darkness after the Northern and the Eastern Grids collapsed, affecting all seven states in the north and the states of Sikkim, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand in the east. The Delhi Metro Rail services ground to a complete halt, while 75 trains of the Northern Railway were affected. Nearly 125 of them are held up between the Ghaziabad and Muhgalsarai Division. Additionally, the North Western Railway and the North Central Railway are said to be affected.
Power Ministry sources said it will take 5-6 hours to repair.
Gopal Saxena, CEO, Delhi BSES, said that it was trying to get some power generation back so that hospitals, metro trains and such services didn't suffer. "We are looking at a situation where we isolate certain segments and give services priority," he said. Meanwhile, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said, "I will update the moment I get more information. Exactly at 12:45, the power grid chairman informed me about states overdrawing power."
Entire north India had plunged into the worst power crisis in a decade on Monday throwing normal life out of gear for several hours in eight states due to collapse of the Northern Grid. At around 1 pm, Delhi had a demand of around 4,000 MW out of which only 38 mega watt was being supplied at around 1:45 PM.
