Posted on 07/31/2012 4:47:12 AM PDT by John W
NEW DELHI -- Half of India's 1.2 billion people were without power Tuesday as the grids covering 19 states broke down, the second major blackout in as many days.
Stretching from Assam, near China, to the Himalayas and the deserts of Rajasthan, the power cut was the worst to hit India in more than a decade. The power loss includes grid failures in northern, eastern and northeastern India.
Trains were stranded in Kolkata and New Delhi and thousands of people poured out of the sweltering capital's modern metro system when it ground to a halt at lunchtime. Office buildings switched to diesel generators and traffic jammed the roads.
The cut left hundreds of miners trapped underground in Kolkata, Sky News reported, citing AFP.
The power outage is likely the largest ever in India, the Economic Times reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnews.nbcnews.com ...
“This is the second day that something like this has happened. I’ve given instructions that whoever overdraws power will be punished,” Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters.
“It can’t happen here?” ping...
Saw something recently on cable (Science Channel? Discovery Channel? not sure..) that said that the North American power grid (Canada's wired into it too) was designed to handle loads no bigger than those seen in the '60s.
600 million people right now are being involuntarily green and planet friendly. If I were the suspicious type, I’d say it was intentional.
It’s Always Something. (IAS)
I don't recall the one I saw focusing at all on "global warming",etc.Perhaps there's more than one documentary out there that's made reference to the power grid.
Thank you for the morning laugh!
That’s why they want everyone to have smart meters. So they can shut off your power at will if someone determines that you are “over-drawing.”
This should create a smell detectable in outer space.
The country is a filthy cesspool on the best of days with electricity.
Make sure you never take any medication manufactured in India (or China for that matter) as they know nothing about hygiene.
Also our government needs to stop the H1B visas before this lifestyle contaminates the USA.
See: http://www.chinasmack.com/2010/pictures/filthy-india-photos-chinese-netizen-reactions.html
OMG!
I couldn’t get through all of it.
I know someone who was so besotted in multi-culti ecstasy because he went to a wedding and was the honored father-in-law (which is kind of a god to Hindus, or something). What he saw when he got there was a "nice" part of India and how they got their electricity into their homes...
It was a wooden pole in the middle of the neighborhood with all kinds of jerry-rigged and dangerous looking amateur hookups, splices and wiring. When this bragabond asked why the government electrical inspectors didn't enforce the laws against all this *stolen* electricity, he was told that you just have to pay off the inspectors when they come around.
Of course, you're not reading about how the power people are doing without is stolen in the first place.
I’m so cynical now I wouldn’t believe a documentary on TV if it was filmed in my house.
That’s funny!
The only documentary about India that I even gave was Jeremy Piven’s tour of the place. I gave it five minutes and it was long enough to hear that he thought the place exceptionally dirty, and he said so to my suprise. Other than that I read Jim Corbett’s accounts of being a game warden.
I am fascinated by aspects of Indian culture but would never travel there. Delhi belly isn’t something I’m keen to experience.
Same here, but you expressed it so well. LOL
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