India restores power after massive outages

PanARMENIAN.Net - India's power network was back at full capacity Wednesday, August 1 after two days of massive outages that blacked out half the country and left more than 600 million people without electricity, AFP said.

"Power has been restored fully across the northern, eastern and north-eastern grids," Power System Operation Corp. chief S.K. Soonee told AFP.

Monday's failure of the northern network, followed by the expanded collapse of all three grids after midday Tuesday caused chaos across a vast region, paralysing transport networks.

Hundreds of miners were trapped underground for hours in the eastern states of West Bengal and Jharkhand, metro services were stopped temporarily in the capital New Delhi and hundreds of trains were held up nationwide.

New Power Minister Veerappa Moily, who was appointed to the post in a cabinet reshuffle even as Tuesday's unprecedented crisis was still playing out, admitted he faced an enormous task in restoring public confidence.

The massive power cuts left Indians angry and frustrated in cities across the affected region, as they struggled through gridlocked streets in the humid monsoon heat.

Wednesday's newspapers were predictably critical of the government, saying it lacked the political will to implement long called for reforms in the power sector.