In what could be called as a triple whammy for the people of Delhi on Tuesday reeling under the scorching impact of an unprecedented heatwave and a severe water crisis, they faced a major power outage caused by a fire at the Mandola power grid in Uttar Pradesh, a critical supplier of electricity to the national Capital, providing approximately 1,500 megawatts of power.

As temperatures soared to 42 degrees Celsius, the power cut for varying lengths exacerbated the hardships of the residents of Delhi in various pockets, including the area housing Delhi LG Secretariat and Chief Minister's residence.

Amid IMD forecasts that heatwave conditions are likely to prevail for the next five days, Delhi Power Minister Atishi termed the incident as a matter of concern. She said, "There has been a major power cut in many parts of Delhi since 2:11 pm today. A power grid in Mandola, UP, which supplies 1,500 MW of electricity to Delhi, has caught fire. We are linking it to our other power sources."

She said she has sought time to meet the newly appointed Union Energy Minister (Manohar Lal Khattar) and the chairperson of PGCIL (Power Grid Corporation of India).

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, criticising the Centre, said, "It is worrying that the national-level power infrastructure has come to a standstill today. The failure of the national grid in the country's Capital is quite worrying. There was no power cut even when Delhi's peak power demand reached 8,000 MW. This power cut happened due to the failure of the national infrastructure."

In a post on social media X, Atishi said the fire at a sub-station of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) in Mandola near Loni (Ghaziabad) in Uttar Pradesh had led to power outages in many parts of the national Capital.

The power restoration process has begun and electricity is now gradually returning to different areas, Atishi said.

"Delhi is the national Capital. If the power infrastructure in the country's Capital fails like this on behalf of the national grid, then it can have very serious consequences. Delhi has always tried to provide electricity 24x7. A few weeks ago, when the peak power demand reached 8,300 MW, Delhi fulfilled it without any blackout or major power failure.

“Today there is a power cut in Delhi due to the national power grid and we will take immediate action on this," said the Minister.

Several areas in Delhi faced a power outage at around 2 pm on Tuesday. Power outages for long hours were reported on Tuesday afternoon from most parts of the city like ITO, Laxmi Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Jamia, Narela, Model Town, Rohini, Gopalpur, Sabzi Mandi, Wazirpur and Kashmiri Gate. Power discom officials said several areas, largely in central and east Delhi, were affected due to the failure. Some areas in north Delhi also faced outages.

"Areas likely Civil Lines, Model Town, Kashmiri Gate, Gulabi Bagh, Shakti Nagar and Vijay Nagar in North Delhi faced outages. The supply was resumed within an hour," said a discom official. He said the power supply of LG House and Chief Minister's residence was also briefly affected.

While the city Government blamed the outage on a fire at the sub-station in Mandola, sources said a power generation unit owned by the Delhi Government also faced a snag, indicating two versions of the power failure in some areas of Delhi.

As a matter of fact, both Pragati Maidan power station and Mandola sub-station tripped almost simultaneously. The reason can be ascertained only after the technical investigation.

However, the power outage and the ruling Government blaming the BJP ruled neighbouring State is likely to further escalate the already strained relation between the AAP and the Centre-appointed Lt Governor of Delhi, VK Saxena, who are already locked in a feud for acute water crisis. Saxena had met with AAP Ministers over the water crisis and asked them to refrain from a blame game with Haryana, which has been accused by AAP of not releasing Delhi's share of water.

Those hit due to power cuts in the national Capital took no time in expressing their agony and anger due to long outages.

"No electricity in east Delhi Vivek Vihar. Please resolve the issue. This season is already at its peak. Hard to tolerate," posted one tagging Delhi's electricity body BSES.

"Dear Bses, electricity is not available in the Yamuna Vihar C2 block for two hours. It is Delhi. Please do not take revenge on us. Why is electricity not available for two hours?" wrote another while one Ravi Nair from the handle @nairkravi06 suggested that "National capital should have alternative feeders from different grids including independent sources."