In Pictures: Mumbai on pause after huge power outage

A train halts at a station as local train services were disrupted due to major power supply failure, in Mumbai. A major grid failure caused a widespread power outage in India's financial capital Mumbai and surrounding areas on Monday, the first such blackout in more than two years that stranded thousands of train passengers and delayed college exams.

The failure was caused by "technical problems" during maintenance work, the energy minister of Mumbai's home state of Maharashtra said in a video message. Power has now been restored to many areas of the city, officials and witnesses said. Above, employees work at jewellery store during power cut in Mumbai.

A security official makes an announcement for the commuters stranded at Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus as local train services were disrupted owing to power failure. Mumbai's international airport and the country's two main stock exchanges located in the city, the National Stock Exchange and BSE, said they were operating normally. "Power cut across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region due to grid failure," the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport agency said on Twitter.

Local trains stranded due to a major power cut in several areas after grid failure.

A woman uses a battery light as she tends to a customer during a power outage in Mumbai.

A traffic police gives directions manually after a grid failure resulted in massive power outages. Mumbai hasn't seen a power outage as wide as Monday's in decades. Banks and other vital institutions in India's financial hub therefore presume uninterrupted supply or minimum disruptions and don't have long power backup.

A health worker wearing protective gear collects a swab sample from a resident during a Covid-19 coronavirus screening at a civic clinic in Dharavi slums, in Mumbai. Hospitals and other institutions in India have over the years banked on emergency diesel power generators as a backup due to frequent outages caused by demand outstripping supply, though the situation is improving now.

Widespread power cuts are uncommon in the city of 20 million people which was spared when grids across the country collapsed in 2002 and 2012 but prevalent across swathes of India as the country is yet to fully wipe out deficiency. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to spend close to $350 billion in energy infrastructure by March 2025, most of it in building conventional and non-conventional power plants along with transmission and distribution networks to fulfil his pledge for providing 24x7 clean energy for all by 2025. Above, a woman and her daughter light a candle inside their house.

Commuters wait on a stalled suburban train during a power outage in Mumbai.

Commuters wait on a railway platform after trains were stalled during a power outage.

A woman cooks food in candle light after a grid failure resulted in massive power outages across the city.

Emergency lights being used at a medical shop during power failure.