Title - The last-mile problem

When the lights went out across the northern plains three days ago - and again two days ago, blacking out the East as well - the national ignominy was unmistakable. On day one, little Bhutan wired over enough power to restart the Delhi Metro, a national pride and joy, and keep the Prime Minister's home and office plugged in. No light at the end of the tunnel: Commuters outside a Metro station, New Delhi, July 31 Really? The country we dimly know of as a repository of happiness, recipient of Indian munificence and a monarchy with a penchant for wearing skirts? Yes, that Bhutan is South Asia's only power-surplus country. It consumes 250 Mega Watts (MW), or about as much as Greater Kailash and Goregaon combined, I imagine, and since it produces about five times more electricity than it generates, it exports the rest to India . So, who caused the great seven-state blackout on Monday and the monster 21-state blackout of Tuesday? Who is responsible for cutting electricity to more than 600 million people, more than the populations of the US, Canada and Brazil combined? On Monday, we heard Uttar Pradesh was the villain, drawing wads more power than it was supposed to. On Tuesday, we heard it could have been any of the northern states. A probe team will undoubtedly tell us who was responsible. But it is equally important we know why this happened, and how it could be a harbinger to darker and drier days. It's well known there is a yawning - and growing - gap between electricity and water demand in India, made worse this year by a stuttering monsoon.