JOIN USPower department officials are working on a war footing to restore the electricity supply, which was disrupted in most parts of north India due to a fierce storm on Friday.
Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Power (independent charge), who reviewed the situation, said restoration work has started and will be completed at the earliest. Due to the storm, the northern electricity grid suffered a load loss of 8,000 mw, including 3,500 mw in the national capital. Other states that were hit include Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand.
“Sixty-eight transmission lines tripped. The load loss was at the rate of 200 mw per minute, resulting in a northern grid load loss of about 8,000 mw, including 3,500 mw in Delhi,” the ministry of power said in a statement here on Saturday.
“Out of the 68 lines that tripped during the incident, 49 are functioning and supply is gradually being restored in all states,” it said.
In Delhi, top priority was accorded to restoring power at hospitals, Metro network, water treatment plants and the New Delhi Municipal Council area, it said, adding that presently, about 3,800 mw of load is being met. Assistance was provided to Delhi through the Emergency Restoration System (ERS) for early restoration of affected lines, particularly Mandola–Gopalpur, Bawana–Rohini and Bamnauli–Pappankalan, which are affecting the power supply in the northern Delhi region.
The minister has promised all help to Delhi and directed the Power Grid Corporation of India, the central transmission utility, to extend all cooperation in this regard. Goyal said that more ERS equipment should be maintained by all states and central utilities to reduce the outage time and suffering of the people. The ministry also said that all states and generating stations had been alerted about the likelihood of a storm based on reports from the Met office, and were even advised on corrective action.