Shinde warns states not to overdraw more power than assigned quota

New Delhi, July 31 (ANI): Expressing confidence that the power would be restored soon, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Tuesday issued a stern warning to states which overdraw more electricity than their assigned quota.

"The grid failure maybe because of failure of grid connectivity, or several other reasons. So, taking note of that, we appointed a committee yesterday. The states, which overdraw more electricity than their quota will be penalized," he said shortly before being made Union Home Minister in what television channels called a "paper reshuffle" of the Union Cabinet.

Shinde said the situation has now been normalized 45 percent in northern region, 35 percent in eastern region and 100 percent in northeastern region.

"Essential services have begun in Delhi," he added.

Meanwhile, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh Government and two other states - Rajasthan and Haryana-to explain the overdrawing of power and for blatantly flouting of norms governing access to electricity/power supply, which led to grid failures in the northern and eastern parts of India.

As of now, Uttar Pradesh is overdrawing electricity by five percent, Haryana by 51 percent and Rajasthan by 18 percent.

The second blackout in two days affected as many as 20 states in north, east and northeast India, paralysing rail and metro operations, and causing major traffic snarls.

Some of the states affected included Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.

These states account for half of India's 1.2 billion population, or 600 million.

The Delhi Metro, which covers 70,000 kilometers every day and carries 1.8 million passengers, suspended service on all the six lines after the failure of the grids. Latest reports said that services have been resumed partially.

New Delhi and several other cities faced traffic snarls, as traffic signals tripped and caused major snarls at intersections.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Power Grid Corp of India, R.N. Nayak, said close to 50 percent of power had been restored in the northeastern region and 20 percent in the north.

He said a full inquiry would reveal the nature of the problem. He added that every effort was being made restore supplies fully by 7-7.30 p.m.

On Monday, seven states in the northern region saw power trip off at 2.32 a.m. due to a major breakdown in the Northern Grid - an interconnected transmission network that delivers electricity from various power generating stations to distribution utilities.

The last time such a crisis took place was in 2001, when it took 16 hours to restore normalcy. (ANI)