Delhi lays all blame on UP, Haryana, Punjab

The state government on Monday blamed Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab of overdrawing power from the northern grid, which led to its collapse and  triggered several hours of power cut across the Capital.

Delhi power minister, Haroon Yusuf on Monday said the power supply in the city was restored by late afternoon.

While UP was overdrawing 900 MW of extra power than its allocation at 2 am, Haryana and Punjab were overdrawing 580 MW and 500 MW respectively.

“The power supply in the entire northern region was affected due to the over drawing of the electricity by Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and some other neighbouring states,' Yusuf said, laying the blame on the three neighbouring states.

He  said more than 2,500 MW of electricity was overdrawn from the northern grid which resulted in the tripping of generating stations in Delhi, except the Badarpur Thermal Power Station. 

Delhi's demand just before the disturbance was mere 3,384 MW,  he said. 

The minister said Delhi has been able to meet its peak power demand of around 5,600 MW this season without any fuss. 

The power disturbance in Delhi on Monday was beyond the control of the power sector companies in Delhi, he clarified. Power supply in Delhi was disrupted along with the other states in the northern region at 2:33 am  in the small hours of Monday. 

According to Yusuf, power to all the emergency services like water treatment plants, Delhi Metro and services in New Delhi Muncipal Council areas were restored at the earliest. Electricity was restored at the Airport and All India Institute of Medical Sciences by 4.00 am.

“The power situation in Delhi improved with the normalisation of the northern grid. The power supply in the Capital was restored by 12 pm. However, load shedding to the tune of around 250 MW was carried out on the advice of northern region load,” Yusuf said.

“The condition further improved by 4 pm with the restoration of generation to full capacity at various central sector generating stations such as Rihand, Singroli and Dadri,” Yusuf said. 

Delhi is an integral part of the northern grid and a significant quantity of power to Delhi comes through it. If any disturbance occurs in the northern grid, the power supply in Delhi also gets affected.