India: Massive Power Outage Cuts Electricity to Millions - East Idaho News
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India: Massive Power Outage Cuts Electricity to Millions

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GETTY W 112111 IndiaPakistanBorderMap?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1343664120122iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A massive power outage across nine states in northern India knocked out electricity to an estimated 300 million people and caused a commuting nightmare early Monday morning, before it was mostly restored later in the day.

Among the areas affected by the blackout was the Indian capital of Delhi, one of the most heavily populated cities in the country and one of the most densely populated in the world. BBC News reports that the Delhi Metro experienced delays of up to three hours in spots before it was able to resume operations. Traffic lights in the capital were also affected by the outage, causing gridlock during the morning commute.

Power officials in the country say it’s not unusual during the summer months for states to “take more power” from the grid than authorized, and suspect that may have contributed to Monday’s failure – the worst to hit India in more than a decade, according to the BBC.

A task force has been appointed to determine the exact cause of Monday’s outage.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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