GURGAON: Large parts of Gurgaon plunged into darkness on Friday evening after a fault at a 220kV substation in Sector 72 triggered a widespread power outage across multiple areas during peak summer heat, with temperatures soaring to 42.7°C.
The blackout disrupted electricity supply across eight substations, leaving thousands of residents without fans, air-conditioners and lifts, while also bringing Rapid Metro services to a halt. The disruption forced several stranded commuters to walk along metro tracks to reach nearby stations.
The outage began around 7 pm after a transformer circuit at the Sector 72 substation developed a technical fault, triggering a shutdown and causing a cascading impact on downstream substations.
Power supply was affected in substations serving sectors 38, 44, 46, 52, 56, 15 and the Maruti plant, impacting large stretches of Golf Course Road, Sohna Road, MG Road, Palam Vihar and parts of sectors 15, 38, 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51, 52, 56 and 57.
Discom officials said repair teams were attempting to isolate the fault and reroute loads through nearby substations to restore supply in phases.
“Our teams are working on the fault, but repairs may take several hours,” an official said.
KK Sarkar, superintending engineer at HVPNL, said the disruption was caused by a technical malfunction and teams were working to restore supply at the earliest.
The outage came at a particularly difficult time for residents, with Gurgaon recording its highest-ever power demand of 2,372 MW just a day earlier as temperatures remained above 40°C throughout the week. The India Meteorological Department has also issued an orange alert for heatwave to severe heatwave conditions in Haryana from May 24 to 27.
Residents across affected sectors described unbearable conditions as homes turned into heat traps.
“It’s impossible to sleep in this heat. The power has been out since evening and we have no idea when it will return,” said Amit Sharma, a resident of Sector 46.
In Sector 56, resident Ritu Arora said repeated power tripping had already damaged household appliances. “This complete blackout is the worst we’ve seen this summer,” she said.
Even residential societies with generator backup complained about mounting costs.
“Generator backup is expensive. During long cuts, societies burn huge amounts of diesel and the bills go up,” said Sumit Anand of Sushant Lok.
The outage also paralysed Rapid Metro services during peak evening hours. According to Delhi Metro officials, the power failure from HVPNL’s Sector 72 substation — which supplies electricity to the Rapid Metro network and Gurgaon’s section of the Yellow Line — disrupted services from 7.50 pm to 8.33 pm.
Passengers were stranded inside trains and at stations, with several commuters eventually stepping onto the tracks and walking to nearby stations after waiting for extended periods.
In videos shared online, passengers could be seen walking along metro tracks in the dark.
“We stepped out of the metro and walked to the nearest station,” a commuter said.
Delhi Metro officials said Yellow Line services continued through a standby substation, while Rapid Metro operations resumed after power supply was restored through the Sector 72 facility.
“I’ve been waiting for 30 minutes. Some people have already left to find other means of transport,” said commuter Saket Kumar.
The blackout came just two days after a fire at the Sector 9 substation caused a nearly nine-hour outage affecting around 1,500 families in three residential societies — Parina Laxmi Apartment and Parina Coban in Sector 99A, and BPTP Amstoria in Sector 102.
Residents said the repeated failures had exposed the fragile state of Gurgaon’s power infrastructure amid rising temperatures and record electricity demand.
“Every summer it’s the same story — faults, fires and long cuts. The system clearly cannot handle the load,” said Naveen Batra of Sector 52.
