HYDERABAD: Major parts of Seemandhra reeled under blackouts that hit emergency s ervices and industry on Tuesday, the

third day of the strike by electricity empl oyees against the Union cabinet's decision to bifurcate the state. The crisis th reatened to strike Hyderabad, the state's IT hub and home to Indian arms of seve ral global giants. As talks between chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and striking Seemandhra electr icity employees failed, several states stared at longer power cuts that have alr eady tripped movement of goods and rail services. The strike has led to fears of a collapse of the southern grid, which could plunge the southern region into da rkness. "Talks with the chief minister have failed. He requested us to call off the stri ke but we demanded that he give us a clear assurance on behalf of the Centre tha t the proposed division will not take place. He did not give us any positive rep ly. Therefore, we have decided to intensify our agitation. There will be no reli ef for the emergency services as well," Joint Action Committee (JAC )leaders V S aibaba and P Srinivasa Rao said after the meeting. The JAC members planned to clear all the blocks in the transmission and distribu tion network in the 13 Seemandhra districts to increase demand and force power c uts in Hyderabad. "We have asked our members to restore the power supply in the Seemandhra region. This will increase the power demand manifold and force the go vernment to impose power cuts across the state as there is no power generation i n most parts of the state at present," said co-chairman of Seemandhra Vidyut JAC Gangavarapu Roop Chand. Power generation remained crippled at Vijayawada and Rayalseema thermal power st ations. According to official sources, the total demand was 11,000 MW while the supply remained at 7,500 MW. Severe disruption in power supply is expected in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Odisha if the Seemandhra region started to consume more power as it would double the demand. Meanwhile, AP Non-Gazetted Officers ( APNGO) urged their leaders to end the twomonth agitation in view of the festive season. The leaders of the striking emplo yees are to meet the CM on Wednesday for talks. "While they are committed to the cause of Samiakyandhra, the employees are also faced with livelihood issues as they are unable to pay house rent, EMIs, school fees and new clothes for Dussehra because they have not received salaries since August. So they want to back to work. They feel that the general public and poli tical parties must take the lead and sustain the movement," said U Muralikrishna , chairman of the Seemandhra Employees' Forum. "There is no question of calling off the strike without a clear commitment from the Centre to drop the proposal to divide the state," said APNGO president P Ash ok Babu though adding that they would go into the talks with an open mind.