Northern grid trips, train traffic hit

Chandigarh, Jan 2 : The northern grid tripped early Saturday causing a power blackout in many parts of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh and seriously hitting train services.

Electricity supply was restored within a few hours in most parts of Punjab and Haryana, the two states where train traffic was the worst affected.

The tripping in the northern grid took place at 3.02 a.m.

"The snag developed due to thick fog over Punjab and Haryana," Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) chairman H.S. Brar told IANS. Hectic work was on to restore power supply in all the states.

Power supply had been restored in 60 percent of the areas, Brar said.

"Tripping occurred because of accumulation of continuous layers of fog and moisture over the insulators, which are installed on iron electric polls," he said.

"There is nothing to worry about the tripping as it is essential for the protection of the grid. In intense cold and fog, we see frequent tripping," Brar added.

"Power supply has been partially resumed. Very soon it will be activated throughout the region," he said.

The tripping of the grid severely affected power-driven trains.

"It was a difficult situation for the passengers and the authorities. Trains were stranded for three-and-a-half hours. Now the situation is under control," divisional railway manager (Ambala division) H.K. Jaggi told IANS.

In Ambala, 15 trains got delayed by one to three hours. In total, over 50 trains were affected in Ambala, Ferozepur and Delhi divisions, he said.

The railway authorities deployed diesel engines to overcome the crisis.

"But diesel engines are not available at all the places. Moreover, due to the dense fog, diesel supply took a long time to reach the destinations," Jaggi said.

Road traffic on most highways in Punjab and Haryana was reduced to a crawl due to a thick fog that dropped visibility to dangerous levels.

A cold wave sweeping northern India for days intensified with Amritsar and nearby places recording minus 1.2 degrees Celsius Saturday morning.

The fog is expected to continue as the dry, cold spell will prevail till next week.