Powerless from dawn to dusk

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, JAN. 2. In what is described as the worst ever power crisis in recent memory, the whole of Delhi had to do without electricity for the better part of the day today as the Northern Grid's main power stations in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana along with high-tension 400-kv lines tripped at 4-50 in the morning leading to complete breakdown of the system. By 9 at night about 1,600 MW of power had been restored.

Even VVIP areas including Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Prime Minister's residence, the Delhi Chief Minister's residence and areas housing Union Ministers and Members of Parliament went without power for about 40 minutes. It was only after the Indraprastha Gas Turbine Power Station was made operational around 5-30 a.m. that 100 MW of power was made available to the New Delhi areas.

Though by evening the situation had started improving, efforts to restore normalcy received another setback around 7-30 p.m. when the 610-MW Badarpur Thermal Power Station tripped due to low frequency, plunging entire South Delhi into darkness.

The day's major breakdown was attributed to the collapse of the Panki Power Station in Kanpur. It had a cascading effect as four high-tension lines of 400 kv supplying power to the Capital also tripped. The situation worsened as the Dadri-Rihand and Singrauli power stations -- the Northern Grid's main suppliers accounting for 900 MW of power to the Capital -- broke down too.

The sudden crash of the entire Northern Grid coupled with the shutdown of the Badarpur Thermal Power Station, supplying 600 MW to Delhi, took everyone by surprise. Frantic calls were made to top officials of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) to ascertain the cause.

Around 6 in the morning it was confirmed that the entire system had gone kaput. The Chief Minister, Ms. Sheila Dixit, along with the Power Minister, Dr. Narendra Nath, and senior Delhi Vidyut Board officials went into a huddle to take stock of the situation. DVB expressed its inability to activate the Raj Ghat Thermal Station and the Indraprastha Thermal Power Station. Though the peak demand was pegged at 2,400 MW, only 90 MW of power was available till around 4 p.m.

It was only at 4 p.m. that PGCIL conveyed to DVB that they could start drawing power from Mandoli, Bawana, Narela and Ballabgarh as 800 MW was available from the Sangrauli-Rihand power stations. By 6 p.m., power was restored to New Delhi, East Delhi and North- West Delhi and by 9 p.m. Delhi was receiving 1,600 MW -- still facing a shortage of 800 MW. Only 150 MW could be made available through the Raj Ghat and Indraprastha power stations.

The share of 1,200 MW from the Northern Grid was expected to be restored by midnight. ``We are trying to do our best. We are dependent on the Northern Grid and other sources for power and until they are restored the situation will remain worrisome. But things should normalise late at night,'' Dr. Nath said.

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