Delhi suffers power outage amid heatwave and water crisis
Delhi, already battling an intense heatwave and severe water shortage, experienced widespread power cuts this afternoon. The outage was triggered by a fire at a power grid in Uttar Pradesh's Mandola, which supplies 1,500MW of electricity to the national capital. Delhi Power Minister Atishi confirmed the incident stating, "A power grid in Mandola, UP, which supplies 1,500MW of electricity to Delhi has caught fire."
Heatwave conditions intensify amid power outage
The power outage occurred as Delhi's temperature hovered around 42°C. The India Meteorological Department has predicted that heatwave conditions will continue to prevail in most parts of the city. This intense and unprecedented heatwave has been sweeping Delhi for nearly a month now, with temperatures soaring above 50°C on some days.
Residents express distress over power outage on social media
Residents of Delhi took to social media to voice their concerns about the power cuts. One user from east Delhi's Vivek Vihar pleaded, "No electricity... Please resolve the issue. This season is already at its peak. Hard to tolerate." Another resident from Ram Nagar, Shahdara reported that their street had been without electricity for two hours.
Power minister expresses concern over national infrastructure failure
Atishi expressed her concern over the failure of the national power infrastructure, attributing it to the widespread power cuts. She stated, "It is worrying that the national-level power infrastructure has come to a standstill today. The failure of the national grid in the country's capital is quite worrying." The minister also criticized the Centre's handling of this situation and announced plans to meet with Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
Power outage adds to ongoing water crisis dispute
The power outage has further complicated the ongoing feud between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Centre-appointed Lt Governor of Delhi, VK Saxena, over an acute water crisis. Saxena recently met with AAP ministers regarding the water shortage and urged them to refrain from "blaming" Haryana for not releasing Delhi's share of water.
