I-T returns:Biggest power blackout makes some Indians happy?

Updated: Wednesday, August 1, 2012, 10:33 [IST]

New Delhi, Aug 1: The biggest power blackout in India, which also has been termed as the world's worst-ever power collapse, affected more than 60 crore people in more than 20 states in India. However, it seems that the power grid failure brought some good news for many Indians who have failed to file their Income Tax (I-T) returns on time.

The Income Tax department earlier had announced Jul 31 as the last date for filing returns. The department has made filing of income tax returns mandatory for all Indians especially for those whose annual income is Rs 10 lakh and above. Untill 2011, filing income tax returns was optional.

However, citing the pathetic condition of the country on Tuesday, Jul 31 the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) decided to extend the deadline and thus announced Aug 31 as the last date for filing the returns.

CBDT issued a statement saying, "This has been done in respect of assesses who are liable to file such returns by 31st July 2012 as per provisions of section 139 of Income Tax Act, 1961."

Tuesday's collapse was believed to have been triggered by four states withdrawing power from the northern grid at the same time. This led to a transmission failure at Agra.

Nearly, 500 trains stopped running all of a sudden. Vehicular movement was also affected. Traffic came to a grinding halt in many cities across north and east India.

Thousands of patients in hospitals suffered because doctors could not perform urgent surgeries in the absence of electricity.

Seeing how grave the situation was, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee even declared a holiday in her state to enable professionals and workers to reach their homes as soon as possible.

Due to the grid failure, hundreds of miners were trapped underground in Asansol and Sodedur. The mines are operated by the Eastern Coalfields Ltd.

Total 22 states including 9 from North India, 6 from East India and 7 from North-East India were affected over the power failure. The names of all 22 states have been mentioned below: