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This Is What 670 Million People Without Power Look Like: Pictures From A Blacked Out India
First thing today we reported that India just suffered what may have been the biggest blackout in history, after half of the country's population of 1.2 billion, or just under 700 million was without power, as the electric grid of more than a dozen states suffered an epic collapse. Below we shares some pictures courtesy of Times of India giving some sense of what it means for two Americas worth of people to live without electricity indefinitely. Of note: the calm, peace and order despite the epic traffic jams and crowds. One wonders what would happen in the US if the entire country was without electrcity for even just one hour. Finally, one wonders what the impact to the Indian, Asian, and Global economy will be as a result of the complete halt that at least half of India - one of the world's core marginal economies - has ground to do.
India’s northwestern boundary with neighboring Pakistan is so brightly lit that the thin orange line tracing its path can be seen from space. Photo: NASA/EO
A road is packed in heavy traffics following power outage and rains in the central part of New Delhi, India, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. India's energy crisis spread over half the country Tuesday when both its eastern and northern electricity grids collapsed, leaving 600 million people without power in one of the world's biggest-ever blackouts. Traffic lights went out across New Delhi.
Heavy traffic moves along a busy road as it rains during a power-cut at the toll-gates at Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi July 31, 2012. Grid failure hit India for a second day on Tuesday, cutting power to hundreds of millions of people in the populous northern and eastern states including the capital Delhi and major cities such as Kolkata.
Commuters wait for buses outside a Metro station after Delhi Metro rail services were disrupted following power outage in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. India's energy crisis cascaded over half the country Tuesday when three of its regional grids collapsed, leaving more than 600 million people without government-supplied electricity in one of the world's biggest-ever blackouts.
Commuters wait for buses outside a Metro station after Delhi Metro rail services were disrupted following power outage in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. A massive blackout hit northern and eastern India on Tuesday afternoon, leaving 600 million people without electricity in one of the world's most widespread power failures. The outage came just a day after India's northern power grid collapsed for several hours leaving cities and villages across eight states powerless.
Commuters wait in line at a Metro station after Delhi Metro rail services were disrupted following power outage in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. India's energy crisis cascaded over half the country Tuesday when three of its regional grids collapsed, leaving more than 600 million people without government-supplied electricity in one of the world's biggest-ever blackouts. The city's Metro rail system, which serves about 1.8 million people a day, immediately shut down for the second day in a row.
Passengers sit on a platform for their train to arrive as they wait for electricity to be restored at a railway station in New Delhi July 31, 2012. Grid failure hit India for a second day on Tuesday, cutting power to hundreds of millions of people in the populous northern and eastern states including the capital Delhi and major cities such as Kolkata.
Passengers rest on a platform for their train to arrive as they wait for electricity to be restored at a railway station in New Delhi July 31, 2012. Grid failure hit India for a second day on Tuesday, cutting power to hundreds of millions of people in the populous northern and eastern states including the capital Delhi and major cities such as Kolkata.
A passenger looks through the window of a train as he waits for electricity to be restored at a railway station in New Delhi July 31, 2012. Grid failure hit India for a second day on Tuesday, cutting power to hundreds of millions of people in the populous northern and eastern states including the capital Delhi and major cities such as Kolkata.
Commuters crowd a busy road outside a Metro station after Delhi Metro rail services were disrupted following power outage in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. Indian officials say the nation's northern and eastern power grids have failed, leaving about half the country without power. The collapse of the grids Tuesday afternoon came a day after the northern grid failed and left eight states without power for much of the day.
Indian stranded passengers wait on a platform and some of them on rail tracks for the train services to resume following a power outage at Sealdah station in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. India's energy crisis cascaded over half the country Tuesday when three of its regional grids collapsed, leaving 620 million people without government-supplied electricity for several hours in, by far, the world's biggest-ever blackout. Hundreds of trains stalled across the country and traffic lights went out, causing widespread traffic jams in New Delhi.
Stranded passengers wait on a railway tracks for the train services to resume following a power outage at Sealdah station in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. India's energy crisis cascaded over half the country Tuesday when three of its regional grids collapsed, leaving 620 million people without government-supplied electricity for several hours in, by far, the world's biggest-ever blackout. Hundreds of trains stalled across the country and traffic lights went out, causing widespread traffic jams in New Delhi.
Passengers sit in a train as they wait for power to get restore, at a railway station, in New Delhi, India, Monday, July 30, 2012. A major power outage has struck northern India, plunging cities into darkness and stranding hundreds of thousands of commuters. Trains across eight northern Indian states and metro services in New Delhi were affected by the outage that struck at about 2:30 a.m. local time.
Commuters wait for a metro train, in New Delhi, India, Monday, July 30, 2012. Northern India's power grid crashed Monday, halting hundreds of trains, forcing hospitals and airports to use backup generators and leaving 370 million people - more than the population of the United States and Canada combined - sweltering in the summer heat.
Muslim girls study in the light of candles inside a madrasa or religious school during power-cut in Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi July 30, 2012. Grid failure left more than 300 million people without power in New Delhi and much of northern India for hours on Monday in the worst blackout for more than a decade, highlighting chronic infrastructure woes holding back Asia's third-largest economy.
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I'd recommend familiarizing yourselves with new build alternatives as well. A properly placed earth berm home (18+ inches below ground) will maintain a year round temperature of ~55 degrees farenheit. Cooling and heating efforts are minimal, and south facing windows/doors will let in plenty of natural light. Add some solar panels and your own well, and world be damned, you're good!
yes, Hollywoodcole. Berms, underground, even cute 'hobbit' homes, are the ideal solutions to these problems of overstressing the grid in hot climates.
Solutions to many of the worlds' problems exist, including the one in your post.
The world needs honest, clear-minded leadership and intelligent 'follwership' out of the madness which perpetuates the same wrong behavior in building, traveling and living.
'Hobbit Homes' sound cool 2 me...
+++Occams Aftershave is a 'cool' (no pun intended) username...
@Hollywoodcole ~ & you're damn right too... A few are starting to use old steel cargo 'containers' as the frames for Hobbit Holes (semi-buried ~ as they may be)... I see it as a fantastic move forward...
Why put a photo of six girls in a Moslem school when trying to convey the India situation? It further confuses the public, who can't tell a Muslim from a Hindu Indian as it is.
To clarify: the vast majority in India are peaceful Hindus. A central pillar of Hindu ethics is non-violence, forgiveness, and seeing Divinity in all. Hindus had nothing to do with 9/11. Hindus themselves are victims of countless acts of Muslim terrorist violence.
A small minority of Muslims live in India, while majorities are in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi. Muslim ethics, despite some denials, promote killing for jihad, killing for leaving their faith, killing for adultery, killing for revenge.
If the author/photographer were trying to accurately represent India, he/she would better inform by showing pix of one of the thousands of Indian public schools without power.
STFU
From Google Translator: How do you say "blackout" in Hindi?
Answer: Night.
Synonyms: Blinking, dozing off.
At the peak of summer, pre and post monsoon, power in major cities goes off twenty times a day, though usually not the entire grid at the same time. With a new Indian entering this iteration of existence every four seconds, this power problem is only likely to grow. Heat, weak economy, weak rupee, more people, endemic corruption, widely distributed incompetence....it isn't going to get better anytime soon.
8~1~5993
It's becoming a little like the movie, "2012"! The greater news to me (if it's true!) is that 1/3 of India's population doesn't yet have electricity!! Very sad! Yahshua the Son of Yahweh returns SOON and no NWO can stop Him!! Pray NOW to believe! HalleluYah!!
This ancient transliterated Hebrew (YES JEWISH!) word means, "Praise ye Yah!"