Power cuts: Indian Railways cancels 42 passenger train trips to rush coal rakes

New Delhi: Indian Railways has cancelled 42 passenger trains across the country to allow faster movement of coal carriages and tackle critically low stocks at power plants in the middle of blackouts and outages in many states.

The measure is temporary and passenger services will be restored as soon as the situation normalizes, said Gaurav Krishna Bansal, an executive director at Indian Railways, one of Asia's largest networks. The state-run operator is trying to minimize the time it takes to move coal to power plants, he said by phone.

Meanwhile, a report has claimed that Railways has planned to cancel nearly 700 passenger trains as the major thermal plants are struggling with coal shortages, indicating a looming power crisis.

According to a report of CNBC-TV18, approximately 657 passenger trains---500 mail, express trains, 148 passenger trains are expected to be cancelled to prioritise the movement of coal rakes. On the other hand, Delhi power minister Satyendar Jain claimed that crucial power plants are left with less than a day of coal which can cause blackouts and interrupt crucial services like metro and hospitals.

Coal reserves at India's power plants have declined almost 17% since the start of this month and are barely a third of the required levels. The supply crunch comes just months after a crippling power crisis last autumn saw coal stockpiles plunge to an average four days, triggering blackouts in several states.

Electricity demand has jumped as temperatures have soared in many parts of India, prompting the weather department to issue heat-wave warnings. The country's average temperature reached almost 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius) in March, the highest on record for the month since authorities started collecting the data in 1901.