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Power supply was crippled in many parts of Central and South Delhi on Thursday afternoon, a time of the day when the peak electricity demand touches its peak. The power distribution companies resorted to load shedding for up to three hours owing to a major snag that led to a shortfall of up to 1,300 MW.

Delhi power minister Satyendar Jain said that the supply was affected as power generation units at the Badarpur Thermal Power Station (BTPS) and the Pragati Power Plant tripped after a current transformer of the 220kV Samaypur-Palwal line blasted.

Supply got crippled around 2.30 pm when the city’s peak power load was around 5,800 MW, authorities said.

The system was “fully normalised” by 5.30 pm, state-run Delhi Transco said. Meanwhile, the Delhi government said the NTPC-run Badarpur plant has been operating below capacity since May 1.

“Badarpur power plant was closed for two hours on May 1, for 21 hours on May 10. One of its units remained completely dysfunctional between May 11 and May 21. It was again closed between June 3 and June 6. It affected power supply in south and east Delhi,” the minister said.

The thermal power plant, which is coal-based, was identified as a major polluter by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) last year and was served an immediate closure notice, although later a 210 MW unit was given permission to operate, while four others were shut down.