Cascading Blackouts Leave Northern India in the Dark

A huge power failure in Delhi caused a cascading blackout, which left much of northern India without electricity. At one point more than 620 million people, more than twice the U.S. population, had no access to electricity. The lights in Delhi and seven states went out around 2:00 a.m. July 31 and power was fully restored mid-day August 2. Chaos reigned in a sweltering Indian summer. The country’s inability to properly fund coal mines and power plants has now reared its head.