Thursday 2 August 2012

Massive Power Outage Affects North India



This  news  made  the  headlines   all  over  the  world 3  days   ago. Many  of  my  blog  readers  and  Facebook  friends  asked  me   about  it so  I  will  tell   you  what  we  went  through.
We  have  our  routine power  cut everyday from  10AM  to  1 PM  and  because  I  did  not   listen  to  the  news  I  did not  know  what  was   happening.  I  have  a battery  powered  inverter which  supplies limited  power to   a  fan  and  light  bulb  for  a  few  hours.
At 4 PM  when  we  still not get our  lights  back  ,  I  turned  on   the TV  and  heard  of  the  massive  power  crisis  which  had   hit  most  of  northern   India,  affecting  19  states more   than  600  million people. Three  national  grids  had   failed .   They   were  overloaded  as   all these  states   were  drawing     much  more excessive   amount  of  electricity  than  what   was  allotted to  them.

Without  electricity life  came  to  a  standstill.
Hospitals  were  paralysed - specially  the  government  run  ones  which   don 't  have  adequate  generators.
Businesses   were disrupted
Offices  shut  down and  people  went  home  early.
Trains  stopped  running,  passengers  were  stuck  midway.
Don 't  talk  about  the traffic lights.
Miners  were  trapped   underground  in  Bengal state.
In  some  place s  the  Internet  services  were  affected,
Airports  were  affected.
There   was  no  water  supply

In  some  states   people  spent  a  sleepless  hot   night  -  the  old,  sick  and babies  were  most   vulnerable.

I  was  very anxious  by  nightfall because  I  did  not  wan t to use  up  my emergency  inverter  battery. I  turned  off my  fan  and  lights  and  sat  out on the   porch , fanning  myself   with a hand fan with Sheeba   for company. I  lit  two  kerosene  lamps,  but  its  scary to be  alone in the  dark. I  sent  text  messages  to  my  friends and  called up  my  sisters -  same  story  everywhere. I  could  not   even listen  to  the news as  my  TV  remote  control got  spoilt and  I could  not   turn  it  on (I  patched it  up  today,  so its  working  now).

Praise  God   we   got  our lights   back  late  night . We  had   some  more  cuts  in  the   middle  of  the  night ,  but   my   inverter   held  on.

This   is  all a  result   of  mismanagement  and  corruption. Hope it  never  happens   again.

You can  read  a  BBC  report HERE

16 Fertilize my soul:

Just Be Real said...

Oh WoW! Blessings.

Felisol said...

Dear Amrita,
I thought of you as I heard the news. Never expected you were so heavily struck though.
Good think you had Sheeba. It would have been even better if you had had good neighbours to visit.
Praying for you safety and well being.
From Felisol

Retired Knitter said...

We had a similar serious outage of power the beginning of July in my area of the US east coast. The sudden intense storm came through our area and people were without power for as along as week. A very serious condition. My husband and I were lucky - we only lost power for 3 days. It is amazing how dependent our societies are on electric power.

Simply Shelley said...

Very scary situation to be sure..thank the Lord the electricity was restored. Sounds like you and I did the same thing...when my electricity was off..I too sit on my porch with an oil lamp burning...glad you had your dear Sheba there to keep you company...hope it doesn't happen again.....blessings friend.

Julie said...

We were thinking about you here and hoping your were OK and not affected, sorry to hear you were but glad everything is back on and working. The things we take for granted, running water, light, fans.......

Nadwrażliwiec said...

I felt that it was electricity. I thank God for this blessing.

David C Brown said...

It's a bit sobering to realise how much we depend on electricity.

But it's good to attached to a power source that never fails!

Deb said...

I've been thinking about you and praying for you throughout all of this.

Saija said...

glad the power is back on!!!!! and it's a good thing that you have the Lord to lean on during lifes power outages!!!!

Crown of Beauty said...

Did you get to cook your dinner? It is always good to have clean water for drinking ready, some bread, fresh fruits and vegetables to eat. I believe these things are just an introduction to what is ahead for us in the whole world.

Stay safe, dear Amrita.

Love
Lidia

Amrita said...

My Precious friends, thank you for youor prayers and concern for my welfare and my country too. These days we are having our regulat 3 to 4 hour cuts and they turn off the lights in a rain storm too, otherwise we are OK.

Amrita said...

Brother David yo are right about being connected to the LIGHT SOURCE which never snaps off - Jesus.

Amrita said...

Dear Lidj, (Crowb of Beauty)
I just finished off wha t I had coked in the afternoon, couldn 't cook in the dark Ha - ha!. I did OK

Pia said...

Good your power is back on. I know how hard that was because years ago we had power outages that lasted 12 hours everyday. It was crazy! Glad you're okay, amrita.

Anonymous said...

I've been praying for you having heard about the outage. Glad you weren't gravely effected but at the time, 10% of the worlds population was without power...that IS something, isn't it? Signs of the times we live in.....hugs from California

Sincerity said...

So glad to hear that things are back to normal for you and everyone affected.

I will continue to pray for your safety.

How beautiful that Sheba keeps you company. :) And smart thinking to have a kerosene lamp ready for emergencies.

God is so good. He was looking out for you! Love and blessings to you dear sister.