Normal life was thrown out of gear when a power outage resulted in a blackout in 20 states across north, eastern and north-eastern India affecting more than 600 million people for two consecutive days and severely disrupting essential services including the water supply, industrial power supply, rail and road traffic management and medical care.

The collapse of the Northern Grid affected Delhi, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and some parts of Madhya Pradesh, while the failure in the Eastern Grid's caused a blackout in West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar. The northeastern states of Sikkim, Assam, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunanchal Pradesh were also plunged in darkness by the massive outage.

The three power grids collapsed at 1:05 p.m. local time on Tuesday, and electricity was gradually restored during the course of the day. The multiple grid failure hit just as the northern India was recovering from a blackout following the collapse of the northern power grid late Sunday night.

The outage led to 265 miners getting trapped in the coal mines in West Bengal and Jharkhand who were rescued after several hours.

The power was fully restored to the three electricity grids overnight Tuesday by engineers from the Power System Operation Corporation (PSOC), the state-owned company which manages the country's electricity generation system.

The government has announced an investigation into the cause of the crisis, even as it was reported that the Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was being promoted to the Home Ministry, causing an uproar.

Click 'Start' for a glimpse of how citizens coped with the blackout in northern and eastern India.

People Work on Laptops
Commuters work on their laptops as they wait for the bus to arrive at a bus-stop during a power-cut at Noida, India on July 31, 2012 REUTERS
Teacher Conducts Lesson
A teacher conducts a lesson for students in the light of kerosene lamps and a candle during a power-cut inside a house in Kolkata, India on July 31, 2012 REUTERS
Vegetable Vendors
Vegetable vendors wait for customers at their stall during a power-cut in Kolkata, India on July 31, 2012 REUTERS
Gas Oven Mechanic
A gas oven mechanic waits for customers in his shop during a power-cut in Kolkata, India on July 31, 2012 REUTERS
Customer Holds Candle at Barbers
A customer holds a candle as he gets his haircut at a barber's shop during a power-cut in Kolkata, India on July 31, 2012 REUTERS
Heavy Traffic in National Capital
Heavy traffic moves along a busy road during a power-cut at the traffic light junctions in New Delhi, India on July 31, 2012 REUTERS
Officer Reads With Torch
An officer reads documents with the help of a torch at the driving registration and license authority office during a power-cut in Chandigarh, India on July 31, 2012 REUTERS
Workers Pump Gas
Employees manually fill containers with diesel during a power cut at a fuel station in New Delhi, India on July 31, 2012 REUTERS
Madrasa Students Read
Muslim girls study in the light of candles inside a madrasa or religious school during power-cut in Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi, India on July 31, 2012 REUTERS
Blackout
People stand inside the driving registration and license authority office during a power-cut in Chandigarh, India on July 31, 2012 REUTERS
India India Management