Power Restored to Many Across India

UPDATE: Power has been restored to many of those impacted by the massive power failure that left about half the population of India without energy on Tuesday.

As of 9:30 p.m., New Delhi was fully back on line, while the northern region including the city had 80 percent restored power supply, CNN reports. The eastern region was still lagging, with just 58 percent of power supply returned.

The outage wreaked havoc on the country’s infrastructure, affecting at least 300 trains, grid-locking traffic light intersections, and cutting off New Delhi’s metro system, which serves some 1.8 million people daily. Airports and hospitals remained functional by relying on backup generators, but most— some 620 million, by the Associated Press’s count—were left to sweat it out.

Indians are not strangers to power cuts, a hazard in a country with chronic energy shortages. However, the scope of Tuesday’s outage was unusual. It stretched some 3000 kilometers from the border with Myanmar to that with Pakistan, and impacted 20 of India’s 28 states.

Tuesday, July 31, 10:07 a.m.: India's power grid collapsed for a second time in as many days on Tuesday, leaving about half the country—as many as 600 million people—without power for several hours.

As CNN notes, both blackouts have affected New Delhi, the country's capital. On Tuesday, three of the country's regional grids collapsed. The twin blackouts have cast a spotlight on India's growing electricity needs, and the apparent inability of the country's government to effectively supply it.

India's power minister, meanwhile, is blaming regional overconsumption for the collapse. According to the Associated Press, Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters that: "Everyone overdraws from the grid. Just this morning I held a meeting with power officials from the states and I gave directions that states that overdraw should be punished. We have given instructions that their power supply could be cut."

While the outage caused widespread disruptions for half of the population of one of the world's largest countries, its effect was mitigated by the use of backup generators, apparently commonplace in a country used to blackouts.

Monday, July 30: More than 300 million people were left without electricity early Monday when the power grid across northern India failed for the first time in a decade—a development the Associated Press explains highlights the country's inability to meet its people's growing energy needs.

The grid appears to have collapsed under the weight of the huge demand for power in the sweltering summer, bring much of the country's rail system to a grinding halt and forcing local hospitals to rely on generators to keep the lights on.

Depending on who you believe, the outage was either the worst in India in the past decade or the worst in the region over that time period. Regardless of the specific superlative, the consensus was that it was a massive outage that affected a total of eight states across the northern portion of the country.

The Wall Street Journal reports that roughly 60 percent of the power had been restored by late afternoon and that officials say the nation's trains are now back up and running. The neighboring country of Bhutan provided hydroelectric power to help meet India's needs, and full power was expected to be back by the end of the day.

The Guardian points out that India is the world’s fifth-largest electricity producer in the world but has one of the lowest per capita consumptions of it. In 2009, for instance, Indians used 571 kilowatt-hours per capita, compared with the United States, which consumed 12,914 kwh  per person.

The grid appears to have collapsed under the weight of the huge demand for power in the sweltering summer, bring much of the country's rail system to a grinding halt and forcing local hospitals to rely on generators to keep the lights on.

Depending on who you believe, the outage was either the worst in India in the past decade or the worst in the region over that time period. Regardless of the specific superlative, the consensus was that it was a massive outage that affected a total of eight states across the northern portion of the country.

The Wall Street Journal reports that roughly 60 percent of the power had been restored by late afternoon and that officials say the nation's trains are now back up and running. The neighboring country of Bhutan provided hydroelectric power to help meet India's needs, and full power was expected to be back by the end of the day.

The Guardian points out that India is the world’s fifth-largest electricity producer in the world but has one of the lowest per capita consumptions of it. In 2009, for instance, Indians used 571 kilowatt-hours per capita, compared with the United States, which consumed 12,914 kwh  per person.