The Haryana power crisis has disrupted electricity supply across 23 districts, leaving an estimated eight to 10 lakh homes without power and affecting schools, industries, offices and household water supply after around 40,000 electricity workers went on strike against privatisation, according to a report by Live Hindustan.
The disruption has been reported in Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal, Rewari and other parts of the state. In Gurugram, around half of the city and nearly 50 surrounding villages were reported to be facing blackout-like conditions. In Nuh, power had reportedly remained unavailable for 24 hours.
The strike has also affected educational institutions. In Faridabad, where electricity supply was disrupted for more than 24 hours in several areas, more than 10 schools reportedly declared a holiday on Friday and informed parents through mobile messages. School managements cited the continuing power disruption and its impact on routine academic activities.
Residents in Gurugram’s Rajendra Park area blocked Railway Road on Thursday evening after power remained unavailable from the morning. Hundreds of people reportedly gathered on the road and raised slogans against officials and employees of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. Police reached the location, and the road was cleared after about an hour following an argument between residents and the police.
Faridabad also saw protests at several locations, including Lakhani Chowk, Saran Chowk, the Ballabhgarh-Tigaon Road, Parvatiya Colony, the Number Two electricity office and Pyali Chowk. Residents in more than 30 areas reportedly demonstrated during Thursday night. Roads were blocked at Sector 2, Ajronda, NIT-5, Palla and Kheri Gujran, while villagers at Jharsetly blocked the National Highway. Police forces were deployed near substations amid concerns over further confrontation.
The disruption has affected both electricity-dependent services and water access. With household water pumps and inverters not functioning, residents in several areas reportedly faced difficulty securing drinking water. Wi-Fi services were also disrupted in homes and offices. In industrial areas, production was reported to have fallen by around 50 per cent in some units.
Faridabad’s electricity control room reportedly received about 2,500 complaints that had not been resolved at the time of the report. Around 50 feeders were said to be out of service, affecting homes, markets and industrial areas across the district.
The reported outage has been linked to failures at both 11-kilovolt feeders and 33-kilovolt substations. In Gurugram, 28 11-kilovolt feeders and one 33-kilovolt substation were reported shut, affecting approximately 50,000 homes. Faridabad reportedly had 43 11-kilovolt feeders and two 33-kilovolt substations out of service. Palwal had 30 11-kilovolt substations and three 33-kilovolt substations affected, while 22 feeders were reported shut in Rewari.
Narnaul was reported to have 40 33-kilovolt substations and 21 11-kilovolt feeders out of operation. The report stated that each feeder typically supplies electricity to between 1,500 and 2,000 homes, indicating the scale of the disruption across affected urban and peri-urban areas.
The managing director of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam was sending hourly updates on shut feeders and substations to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Power Minister Anil Vij, according to the report. The updates were intended to track the impact of the strike across southern Haryana while power infrastructure and substations remained under heightened police protection.
