A massive power failure has hit India for a second day running, leaving more than half the country without power. It was caused when three regional power grids collapsed, meaning over 600 million people are without power.

Hundreds of miners were trapped underground in the eastern state of West Bengal when the lifts failed, metro services were stopped temporarily in the capital and hundreds of trains were held up nationwide.

Traffic jams

In a statement on national TV on Tuesday evening, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said he had appealed to states to stop trying to take more than their quota of power. "I have also instructed my officials to penalise the states which overdraw from the grid," he said.

Media reports in India have suggested that Uttar Pradesh is among the states that government officials have been blaming for the grid collapse.

Complete mess

By late on Tuesday, officials said the north-eastern grid was fully up and running. The northern grid was running at 75% capacity and the eastern at 40%. In Delhi, Metro services were halted and staff evacuated trains. Many traffic lights in the city failed, leading to massive traffic jams.

Much of the country's railway network has started moving again, although a full service is not expected for many hours and there is a huge backlog to clear.

Ageing grid

Addressing a news conference earlier on Tuesday, the chairman of the Power Grid Corporation of India said the exact cause of the power cut was unclear, he said, but that it appeared to be due to the "interconnection of grids".

The eastern grid failed around the same time, officials said, followed by the north-eastern grid. Areas affected include Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan in the north, and West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand in the east.

Power cuts are common in Indian cities because of a fundamental shortage of power and an ageing grid - the chaos caused by such cuts has led to protests and unrest on the streets in the past.

【新闻快讯】

7月31日，在印度北部恢复供电数小时后，该国东部和北部地区13个邦又陷入电力瘫痪状态，全国近一半地区的供电出现中断。印度电力部门官员向媒体证实停电原因是北部和东部地区电网超负荷运转，造成电力供应崩溃事故。

印度电力部门官员向媒体证实，从当地时间13时左右开始，北部的德里邦、哈利亚纳邦、中央邦、旁遮普邦、拉贾斯坦邦、北方邦等7个邦和东部的阿萨姆邦、西孟加拉邦、奥里萨邦、贾坎德邦等6个邦陆续遭遇停电。停电原因是北部和东部地区电网超负荷运转，造成电力供应崩溃事故。

在首都新德里，地铁完全停运，医院等重要部门开始启用备用电源以满足正常用电需求。铁路运输遭受重创，全国300趟列车运行受影响，其中125趟列车受困在北部地区，无法动弹。

据当地媒体报道，西孟加拉邦首席部长马马塔·班纳吉证实，受停电影响，在位于西孟加拉邦首府加尔各答西北约180公里处的一个煤矿，几百名矿工被困于地下。班纳吉说，营救受困矿工的工作正在进行中。

目前，印度电力部门开始组织人员进行抢修。铁路等运输部门实施应急预案，将列车引导至附近车站停靠，并为受列车延误影响的乘客办理退款手续。

印度北部地区30日遭遇大面积停电，造成火车、地铁等交通服务严重瘫痪。此次大面积停电被认为是印度11年来最严重的停电事故。