Grid failures won't cripple Capital

Essential services in Delhi such as the Metro, government hospitals, airports, water treatment systems and the railways will now have uninterrupted power supply even during a grid failure.

Essential services in Delhi such as the Metro, government hospitals, airports, water treatment systems and the railways will now have uninterrupted power supply even during a grid failure.

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The government on Wednesday announced an "islanding scheme", which will prevent disruptions in case of a massive power outage. This comes within months of India's biggest power grid collapses on July 30 and 31, which affected more than 600 million people.

"The islanding scheme for Delhi will be in place in three months," union power minister Veerappa Moily said at a joint press conference with Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit.

"The scheme will be operational by January 2013 instead of the earlier plan of implementing it by middle of next year," Dikshit said.

The islanding facility will ensure that in case of a technical problem in the northern grid, Delhi will continue to draw power directly from selected power generating stations or dedicated power plants.

Moily said the electricity will be provided by four 'islands' - Dadri-Jajjhar-Pragati, Bawana CCGT, BTPS-Pragati and Rithala CCGT.

The facility is already operational in parts of Mumbai and Kolkata, while Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir are on the list of states where it will be implemented.

Moily said the islanding facility for Delhi is being set up at a cost of Rs. 25 crore and would have a capacity of up to 3,400 MW.