The collapse that occurred at around 1:02 PM triggered disruption in metro and train services, crippled water distribution network and choked roads due to non-functional traffic lights thereby affecting work in offices and trade activities at major markets.
City's lifeline Delhi Metro came to a standstill as trains stopped on tracks, some inside tunnels, due to the outages and passengers stuck in the trains were evacuated immediately. Nine trains stopped inside tunnels but they were evacuated to the near-by stations.
Metro services were resumed at around 3 PM with minimum frequency after partial restoration of power supply.
The power failure caused widespread jams across the city as traffic lights blacked out. Train services and functioning of various hospitals have also been affected.
The water distribution system was another major casualty of the power cut as water production at all major water treatment plants across the city came to a halt, causing severe scarcity of drinking water.
However, flight operations at the Delhi airport remained unaffected as all essential services were shifted to diesel-run back-up power generation system following snapping of power supply.
Delhi Power Minister Harun Yusuf said supply of power to Delhi Metro, AIIMS, Delhi Airport and Railways was restored by 3 PM while supply was restored in 80 per cent of the city by 7 PM. MORE
