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  Indian Railways News  / Excess power led to grid collapse | The Asian Age

Unlike what happened in northern grid on Monday, the eastern grid did not collapse on Tuesday due to overdrawal of power. Ironically, it collapsed due to excess power in the grid and West Bengal suffered heavily without being responsible.
Before the northern grid was restored fully, it once again collapsed on Tuesday which led to simultaneous collapse in the eastern and north-eastern grids. In India, eastern, north-eastern, northern and western grids are directly connected with each other, while southern is indirectly connected. Any massive collapse in one grid, excepting southern grid, can throw the four grids out of gear and that is exactly what happened on Tuesday when three grids collapsed simultaneously.
Though the exact reason for the northern grid’s failure on Tuesday is yet to be ascertained, the officials involved in the grid management suspect that it collapsed due to overdrawal of power by Uttar Pradesh. The northern and western grids are connected with each other at two points: Agra and Gwalior. Due to the excessive demand in the northern grid, these two points tripped after failing to draw its requirement from western grid which was then at demand-supply equilibrium. The northern grid immediately collapsed.
On the other hand, the eastern grid which was in power surplus situation at that point of time could not flow its excess power to the northern grid through Muzaffarpur and Gorakhpur points as the northern grid had already collapsed. The excess power in the eastern grid also could not flow to the western grid through points at Rourkela and Raipur as the western grid was in demand-supply equilibrium. Failing to evacuate excess power from the system, the eastern grid collapsed and the north-eastern grid also met the same fate as it is connected with the eastern grid. “Power always flows and if its flow is stopped then the system collapses and that is what happened today in the eastern grid,” officials reasoned.
A power sector expert blamed the intervention of political functionaries for this collapse. “Very good concept was brought in the form of ABT (availability based tariff) which punishes a constituent if it exceeds/underdraws his quota and rewards if it follow the discipline. As we are all connected in the grid, if one is indisciplined it affects others and as a result the grids collapse like a pack of cards. The power sector officials are well aware of this but they have been forced by the political leaders to break the discipline,” he said.

  Indian Railways News  / Thousands of passengers halted on tracks

An afternoon of trauma awaited passengers as close to 46 trains halted on the tracks in Ranchi, Dhanbad and Chakradharpur divisions as the eastern grid collapsed around 1pm on Tuesday. While power supply to the railways resumed in Ranchi division at 3.15pm, helping stranded trains like Howrah-Ranchi Shatabdi Express, Baidyanath Dham Express and Jan Shatabdi Express move into the state capital, Dhanbad division trains were not so lucky as power restoration was only partial and local. Till power was restored, the Howrah-Ranchi Shatabdi Express remained stuck at Gangaghat ' a small station about 30km away from the capital. Patna-Hatia Jan Shatabdi stood between Kita and Gangaghat, Baidyanath Dham Express between Muri and Silli, Jammu-Tawi Rourkela Express at Muri and Dhanbad-Allepey Express in between Kotshila and Jhalda. "We could not understand why our train stopped near Gangaghat, a forested area. We panicked when we realised it was due to a power failure," said Soumita Banerjee, an executive of a private company, who finally reached Ranchi at 3.45pm. If passengers on stranded trains were unsure about when they would reach their destinations, at Ranchi, passengers waiting to board trains were also worried. "Soon after power was restored in our division at 3.15pm, we moved the stranded trains to Ranchi," said Sunil Kumar, additional divisional railway manager. In Dhanbad division, where nearly 20 trains were stranded at different places, power had been restored only partially by late evening. Railway officials were debating whether to move trains from deserted places to the nearest station. While New Delhi-Howrah Express was stranded at Hazaribagh Road, Jabalpur-Howrah Express was stuck at Nagar Uttari, Burdwan-Gomo passenger at Gomia, Hatia-Burdwan passenger at Chandrapura, Burdwan-Hatia passenger at Gomoh, Sindri-Dhanbad passenger at Rakshitpur and Gomo-Burdwan passenger at Jageshwar Vihar. "Power restoration is only partial. Hence, we have so far not sent the trains that are stranded at stations further or else they will get stuck at deserted places," said Dayanand, senior divisional commercial manager of Dhanbad division. Hatia-Anand Vihar Swarn Jayanti Express and Dhanbad-Hatia-Garbeta Express remained stranded in Ranchi. Vananchal Express, Hatia-Patna Express, Maurya Express, Hatia-Howrah Express were set for delays. "We are waiting for Vananchal Express for the last two hours. We are not sure whether we will be able to travel today," said Md. Saffique, a passenger who was to go to Pakur, as he waited at Ranchi station. His train was to leave at 3.10pm, but had not entered the platform even at 4pm. Officials, however, stated that no trains were being cancelled. In Chakradharpur division, Howrah-Titlagarh Ispat Express was the first to be stranded. The train arrived at Chakradharpur around 1.35pm and remained there for the next two-and-half-hours. Two other trains ' Santragachi-Nanded Huzur Sahib Express and Howrah-Mumbai Duronto Express were also stuck there till 3.50pm. The trains stranded at Tatanagar station included Tata-Dhanbad Subernarekha Express, Tata-Asansol Passenger and Tata-Jasidih Passenger.

  Indian Railways News  / सुनियोजित साजिश थी तमिलनाडु एक्सप्रेस में लगी आग!

नेल्लौर [आंध्र प्रदेश]। तमिलनाडु एक्सप्रेस में लगी भीषण आग की घटना में साजिश की बू आ रही है। सोमवार को सुबह लगी इस भीषण आग में 35 लोग जलकर स्वाहा हो गए। इस घटना की जांच कर रही फोरेंसिक टीम ने इस तरह की आशंका जताई है। ट्रेन में आग लगने की जांच कर रही टीम के मुताबिक उसको एस 11 कोच की जांच में कुछ ऐसे सबूत मिले हैं जो इस ओर इशारा कि यह घटना सुनियोजित साजिश का हिस्सा थी। जांच दल ने इस हादसे में घायल और कुछ प्रत्यक्षदर्शियों से भी बात की है। इस पूछताछ में उन्हें पता लगा है कि कुछ यात्रियों ने आग लगने से पहले एक धमाके की आवाज सुनी थी। अब इस हादसे की जांच कर रही टीम प्रत्यक्षदर्शियों के इस बयान के मद्देनजर भी काम कर रही है। दक्षिण मध्य रेलवे के पीआरओ फ्रेडरिक आर मिशेल ने इस बात को स्वीकारा है कि कुछ यात्रियों ने आग लगने से पहले एक धमाके की आवाज सुनी थी। इसके अलावा एस 11 कोच में से आ रही बदबू भी ऐसी नहीं थी जैसे की शार्ट सर्किट से लगी आग की होती है। तमिलनाडु एक्सप्रेस में हादसे के दौरान एस 11 बोगी में सवार यात्री पी बंसल ने बताया कि उन्होंने बोगी में शार्ट सर्किट की खबर सुनी थी लेकिन उन्हें याद है कि उन्होंने एक चिंगारी आग लगने की जगह से निकलती हुई देखी थी। बंसल ने बताया कि उन्होंने आग लगने की जगह पर कुछ युवाओं को खड़ा देखा था जिनका व्यवहार भी कुछ संदेहास्पद था। गौरतलब है कि तमिलनाडु एक्सप्रेस में आग सुबह करीब 4:15 बजे लगी थी जिसपर साढे पांच बजे तक काबू भी पा लिया गया था। इस हादसे में 32 यात्रियों की मौत हो गई थी जबकि 28 यात्री घायल हो गए थे। फोरेंसिक टीम के शक को मुकुल राय ने भी बेबुनियाद नहीं कहा है। उन्होंने बताया कि उनके पास इस घटना के बाबत रेलवे के डीआरएम का फोन आया था जिसने उन्हें ट्रेन में धमाका होने की बात कही थी। वहीं रेलवे क्रासिंग पर मौजूद गेटमैन ने भी एक धमाके की बात स्वीकार की है। रेल मंत्री ने इस घटना की जांच के लिए एक उच्चस्तरीय कमेटी भी गठित की है।

  Indian Railways News  / Train fire: Kin battle red tape for bodies

More than 36 hours after the fire mishap took place in S11 coach of the Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu Express, several families of the victims were unable to get the bodies of their loved ones. Only 15 of them were handed over to the kin on Tuesday.

Though arrangements were made by the authorities to shift the bodies to their respective native places, bureaucratic delay forced many families to make their own arrangements. But a more harrowing and traumatic experience was in store for the kin of those whose bodies are yet to be identified.

The railway officials were unable to arrange for the identification of the charred victims despite repeated pleas. And in cases where people identified bodies with the help of belongings, the officials allegedly refused to hand over the bodies, telling families to go for DNA tests for confirmation, a process which would prolong their ordeal.

Families are in a hurry as they are concerned about the temporary morgue arranged at the Nellore government hospital. They alleged that the bodies kept there have already started decomposing due to frequent power cuts.

The officials were able to keep only nine bodies in the existing morgues in the government hospital and the Red Cross Society. However, district medical and health officer Dr Masilamani has promised that the remaining bodies would be shifted to Nellore government hospital from the temporary morgue to prevent decomposition.

Meanwhile, anxious relatives of missing passengers staged a protest at the Nellore railway station demanding information about their loved ones. They alleged that the railway officials were only helping the kin of the deceased and that they had advised them also to go for DNA tests to check whether the missing people were among the bodies kept in the morgue.

A large number of curious onlookers thronged the Nellore railway station to get a glimpse of the burnt S11 coach on platform number 4, despite restrictions. The situation went so out of control that the police officials had to resort to mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd.

  Indian Railways News  / 2-hour blackout in State, many districts still in darkness

A massive power breakdown across the nation on Tuesday hit Odisha as well. While power supply was restored to major cities and towns within a couple of hours, Angul and Dhenkanal __ two major industrial and thermal power hubs of the State __ were ‘blacked out’ due to collapse of the Eastern grid.“Power supply was immediately restored to the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar followed by Railways by drawing power from the Western grid and the hydro power stations of the State,” State Energy Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak told this paper. The other districts which were groping in the darkness till late in the evening were Bhadrak, Balasore, Keonjhar, Marurbhanj, part of Jajpur and Kendrapara.The State managed to supply nearly 1800 MW as against evening peak demand of nearly 2900 MW by maximising hydro power generation. While the State was availing 1,100 MW from different hydel units, the captive generating power plants were supplying more than 400 MW. The State-run Ib thermal power station in Jharsuguda district was providing 340 MW.“The State supplied start-up power to NTPC’s super thermal power stations at Kaniha, which got tripped due to the grid collapse,” the Minister said. Two units of NTPC’s stage-I and six units of stage-II (each unit with a generating capacity of 500 MW) and six units of Talcher Thermal Power Station (TTPS), with generating capacity of 460 MW, went out of the grid, triggering crisis.

“The grid will stabilise only when the NTPC and TTPS units become operational,” Nayak said, adding there is no other alternative to meet the crisis situation. The Minister further said that normal power to the affected areas will be possible only after resumption of power generation from NTPC and TTPS units. While the State gets its share from NTPC’s Kanhia unit, the TTPS is fully dedicated to the State.

Sources in the Odisha Power Generation Corporation Limited (OPTCL), the State transmission utility, said that the grid collapsed at about 1 pm when the Northern grid tripped for the second time on Tuesday. The other eastern States affected by the grid collapse are Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar.