RailEnquiry

Parts of southern India stared at dark days and huge industrial losses as the southern power grid creaked on Tuesday with workers at generating units shutting down thermal plants. Thousands of villages and towns remained cut off from power supply due to electricity employees' strike protesting bifurcation of the state.On October 3, the Union Cabinet had decided to go ahead with the process for the creation of a separate Telangana state carved out from Andhra Pradesh.The electricity employees strike has badly hit power supply to all major establishments and services including airports, railways, and hospitals and for supply of drinking water.

Power generation at Srisailama Right Canal Hydal Unit and Vijayawada, Rayalaseema and Simhadri Thermal Units was almost stopped suffering huge power losses.

Rail and air traffic beside emergencies like medical services have been badly hit due to lack of electricity. Tirupati and Vijayawada airports are running on backup power.

Despite severe hardships, people and state employees in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions relentlessly continue their agitation protesting against the Union Cabinet's decision to bifurcate the state.

In an attempt to mount pressure on the central government, four Union ministers from Seemandhra region met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the national capital on Monday and requested him to accept their resignations over Telangana creation.

Union tourism minister K Chiranjeevi, Union human resource and development (HRD) minister M M Pallam Raju, minister of state for commerce D Purandeswari and minister of state for railways Surya Prakash Reddy met the Prime Minister and pressed for acceptance of their resignations.

"We, in detail, gave him (Prime Minister) a clear picture of the ground situation in Andhra (Pradesh). And, we have requested him to kindly accept our resignations, and we also told him that the people of Andhra Pradesh did expect the Antony Committee to come to the state of Andhra Pradesh but since the Antony Committee has not come, now the people are losing confidence that justice would be done to them," said Purandeswari, according to ANI.

The Prime Minister told them that he will look into their request.

Meanwhile, curfew in Vizianagaram town was eased for an hour on Tuesday morning after normalcy began to return in the violence-hit area even as strict vigil was being maintained during the relaxation period, PTI reported. Curfew was clamped in Vizianagaram town on Saturday night in wake of large-scale violence by anti-bifurcation agitators who remained unabated and clashed with police on Monday also.