Seemandhra’s streets turned into battlefields on Sunday as anti-Telangana protesters defied curfew and shoot-at-sight orders to clash with the police
Deepening the crisis, electricity department employees struck work, plunging large parts of the region into darkness.
Curfew was imposed in Vizianagaram town — fast turning into the epicenter of the anti-bifurcation movement — after day-long violence on Saturday.
But despite the prohibitory orders, Sunday — Day 3 of a shutdown of Seemandhra (comprising coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema) — saw protesters pelt security forces with stones and the troops retaliate by firing rubber bullets and in the air.
According to media reports, 20 policemen and 30 protesters were injured. Dozens of agitators were arrested.
Protesters continued to target state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana’s properties. The coastal Andhra town has been roiling since the union cabinet's October 3 decision to carve out a separate Telangana state out of Andhra.
Power supply to all 13 districts of Seemandhra was hit by the strike called by electricity employees’ associations.
They had announced Saturday that 70,000 workers of transmission, generation and distribution companies would go on an indefinite stir.
Power production at the Kadapa and Vijayawada thermal units and Srisailam hydro units was hit.
Further tripping could affect the entire southern grid, the employees said. Some media reports said even neighbouring Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala were affected.
Power supply to Tirumala was severed in the morning but later restored following talks with striking employees.
As a result of the power situation, the South Central Railway cancelled the Jan Shatabdi Express running between Chennai Central and Vijayawada, scheduled to leave the city on Monday.
source: Hisndustan Times
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