Power crisis again: Northern, Eastern grids fail

NEW DELHI: The Northern and Eastern Grids tripped today, leading to power failure in several states of the country affecting hundreds of millions of people.

While the Northern Grid collapsed for the second time in two days, the Eastern transmission lines too failed this afternoon, said officials at the Power Ministry and electricity companies.

Power supply was disrupted in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Assam and Punjab, among other states.

Delhi Metro came to a standstill on Tuesday afternoon following the collapse of the Northern Power Grid for the second time in two days, inconveniencing thousands of commuters.

Metro operations came to a standstill at around 1:10 pm after the Northern Grid failed again, officials said. Entry to stations and security checking counters were closed at stations. Traffic signals have also stopped functioning affecting smooth movement of traffic.

"Due to Northern Grid failure, all trains services have been suspended. Trains are being brought to the nearest stations for evacuation," a Metro station official said. The official said the DMRC was taking all efforts to ensure the safety and security of the passengers stuck in trains due to power failure.

Delhi Metro's train schedule had gone haywire on Monday for at least three hours due to largescale disruption in services owing to a major power failure in the Northern Grid.