Major power-cut hits Kolkata, throws Metro service out of gear

According to reports, three power units of CESC's Budge Budge power station, which supplies power to Kolkata mostly, had suddenly stopped working at around 9:53 am.

Due to the power-snap, supply of electricity was disrupted as several locations in north, south and central part of the city.

Power supply was also affected at a few hospitals in Kolkata due to the power glitch.

"Following a network disturbance, all the three power units of the 750 MW Budge Budge power station of CESC tripped this morning at 9:53 am," a senior CESC official said.

Later, CESC took power from West Bengal State Electricity Board and brought the situation under control soon.

"Restoration of emergency supply began immediately and key supplies were restored in stages in most places within 15 minutes. All supplies were restored by about 10:30 am," the official added.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Metro service was disrupted due to the power cut and thousands of passengers were stranded underground during peak office hour as metro rakes got stuck inside the tunnel and at several stations, according to reports.

CPRO of Kolkata Metro, Indrani Banerjee, told IBNS: "As power supply was stopped due to CESC's power cut, metro service was disrupted from 9:53 am. to 10:08 am."

"The incident was very unfortunate for Kolkata metro and CESC as well. We, however, run extra trains to normalize the metro service," Indrani Banerjee said.

However, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has called for a high-level meeting at the state secretariat at Nabanna to discuss the matter.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha, Image: Facebook)