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Power cut hits hundreds of millions in India

NEW DELHI, Jan 2 (AFP) - India's entire northern region -- covering three times the population of Germany -- suffered a massive power cut Tuesday due to the collapse of the whole northern grid.

The power outage was reportedly triggered by a problem in a substation in India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, which then spread to neighbouring states and the capital, New Delhi.

Engineers had been working to restore the electricity supply since 4:30 am (2300 GMT Monday).

"We have been able to get almost 80 percent of the northern grid back up to normal" an official of the state-owned Power grid Corp told AFP.

"We should be able to complete the remaining work in a few hours."

As well as Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, the power cut affected the states of Punjab, Kashmir, Rajasthan, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

The population of the entire region totals more than 226 million.

Power breakdowns are common in India as demand far outstrips supply, but the collapse of power lines across a whole region is unusual.

The outage hit rail networks across northern India, stranding trains and crashing signals systems. Delhi's international airport was also affected.

Domestic news agencies said even VIP areas in the capital, including the presidential palace and the prime minister's residence, were cut off, although back-up systems were available.

Partial electricity supply was restored in New Delhi in the early afternoon.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India (ASSOCHAM) issued a swift press statement, expressing "deep concern" and calling for a mechanism to prevent a longer disruption that could "cripple the economy."

The ASSOCHAM statement pointed out that increasing industrial demand would exacerbate the problems already faced by India's strained power sector.

"The slow progress, particularly in strengthening the transmission and distribution system, and ever increasing thefts will contribute to worsening the power supply situation further," it added.

-- Anonymous, January 02, 2001