)
Power supply in most parts of the 13 coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema districts remained cut for the third day on Tuesday as the staff of Southern and Eastern Power discoms continued with their strike.
No effort was made to restart the power plants that were shut on Monday. About 4,190 Mw of power generation capacity in various power plants across Seemandhra remained idle under the impact of the ongoing agitation by the power staff in these districts. In addition to this, another 700 Mw capacity under central generating stations was disrupted due to technical glitches forcing the state power utilities to buy over 640 Mw power from outside, according to officials.
Drinking water supply and other essential services, including hospital services in these districts, were seriously affected as there was no power supply in those areas. However, in five districts under the jurisdiction of Eastern Power discom, the staff restored power during night, according to reports reaching here.
Communication lines connecting a 220-KV switching station at Visakhapatnam was found disconnected in two places though the officials did not say if it was an act of sabotage or caused by some other reasons. The loads in Eastern and Southern discoms came down to 770 Mw from 1,700 Mw and to 630 Mw from 2,500 Mw respectively during the day.
