New Delhi, June 27: The National Capital Region may face a blackout as the coal reserves with the Delhi government were only for a-day-and-a-half, said Power Minister Satyendar Jain who has written to Union Power Minister R. K. Singh regarding the same.

In the letter, Jain informed the minister about the coal supply shortage to the NCR power plants -- Dadri, Jhajjar and Badarpur.

"Since June 19, the coal stock is continuously declining and has reached approximate 90,000 MT on Wednesday, which is only one and a half days requirement," Jain wrote adding that the "situation is extremely critical".

The reason he gave for the shortage is the non-availability of transportation rakes with the railways.

Jain requested Singh to "intervene personally and take up the matter with the Railways for providing rakes on priority for transportation of coal to these power plants to avoid blackout in Delhi".

While addressing the media on Wednesday, Jain said that ideally power plants should have a reserve coal stock for 15 days.

He also said that the power demand was high during this season.

It was the second time in the season that such a warning was issued. In May also, the issue had arisen as the coal reserves of the national capital had been reduced to a day.

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Mangaluru: To clear extra passenger rush during the Vishu festival, the Southern Railway has announced special train services between Mangaluru Central and Chennai Egmore.

According to an official release, Train No. 06126 Mangaluru Central-Chennai Egmore Special will depart Mangaluru Central at 4:00 pm on April 6 and 13, reaching Chennai Egmore at 10:30 a.m the next day.

In the return direction, Train No. 06125 Chennai Egmore-Mangaluru Central Special will leave Chennai Egmore at 2:00 pm on April 7 and 14 and arrive at Mangaluru Central at 6:50 am the following day.

The train will have two AC two-tier, eight AC three-tier, six sleeper class, four general second class coaches, one Divyangjan-friendly coach, and one luggage-cum-brake van.

In a seperate announcement, the southern railway also announced special service between between Bengaluru Cantonment and Dr. MGR Chennai Central to manage the extra rush of passengers.

Train No. 06545 will depart from Bengaluru Cantonment at 08:05 am on Thursday, 9th April and is scheduled to reach Chennai Central at 3:00 pm on the same day. The return service, Train No. 06546, will leave Chennai Central at 4:45 pm on the same day and reach Bengaluru Cantonment at 11:00 pm.