Massive Power Failure in India–for Second Day in a Row
Tuesday, July 31st, 2012July 31, 2012
Hundreds of millions of people are without electric power in India. Three electric grids–one for a second day–collapsed today, leaving northern and eastern India–more than half of the country–without power. Hundreds of trains are stalled on tracks, and traffic lights have stopped functioning in Delhi and in the capital, New Delhi, causing massive traffic gridlock. (The adjacent cities have a joint population of 14,700,000 people.) Hospitals are running on backup generators. In eastern India, hundreds of miners are trapped underground because of mine elevator failures. In all, 600 million people are without power in 20 Indian states.
According to public utility experts, the collapse of the electric grid is part of the severe energy crisis facing India today. India’s use of electricity has soared in recent years as its economy has grown, but the aging infrastructure cannot keep up with demand. The experts also point to a shortage of coal, the source of most of India’s electric power generation, and to inefficient and corrupt private distribution agencies.