India reacts to worst blackout in 10 years with tweets and humour

This article is more than 11 years old

People affected by a widespread power cut took to social networks to share their experiences and frustrations

Residents affected by a power outage in India, which left more than 350 million people across Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir without electricity, have shared their experiences online.

Tweeters in the capital city Delhi recalled previous blackouts:

Metro line in Delhi down after power grid fails. Reminiscent of pre liberalisation years of black outs & nights spent on carrier of old fiat

— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) July 30, 2012

Disruption to the city's metro system and transport system was a key talking point for many commenting on the power cut online with pictures of overcrowded stations being shared, such as this shot of Rajiv Chowk station from Joe C on Facebook.

Also, auto drivers are being considerate of commuters plight. They aren't overcharging and are going by metre! #DelhiPowerCut

— Gillian Hooper (@gillianhooper) July 30, 2012

Others documented their night without power in tweets:

No electricity -> no water, no Metro, no traffic lights, airport on standby, cellphones dying, hospitals on ventilators. A storm is coming.

— Suhel Banerjee (@suhel) July 30, 2012

Thanks for all the concern, happy to report power (and responsibility I guess) has been restored. Much thanks to the happy people of Bhutan.

— Suhel Banerjee (@suhel) July 30, 2012

Despite a government announcement at around 11am local time that 60% of power had been restored to the northern grid, individual tweeters claimed that normal service had not been resumed:

@BreakingNews @Guardian wrong info. Power is still not resumed in max parts of states. People r without water and medical services.

— Rajeev Pathak (@rajeevlav) July 30, 2012

For those enduring the power outage, Twitter was also a source of humour in the face of a long night without electricity, with the #benefitsofpowercut tag beginning and other jokes being shared: