Power crisis: Andhra planning alternative steps

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh government is going ahead with the alternative arrangements to tackle the power crisis and the State Transport strike even as the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) announced this evening that it would not call off the ongoing indefinite general strike till the demand of separate state was conceded.The government has also requested the Centre to arrange coal supply for thermal power plants in the region as plants are facing a possible shut-down due to non-availability of coal on account of the strike at Singareni Collieries, as a part of the general strike that began on September 13.State Chief Secretary Pankaj Dwivedi, who held a high-level review meeting on the strike situation here today, asked both the State Road Transport Corporation as well as the Singareni management to advise the striking employees to return to work immediately "without causing irreparable loss" to the organisations.On the other hand, the JAC leaderships announced that the indefinite strike would continue till "we realise our goal".Telangana Rashtra Samithi President K Chandrasekhar Rao announced that if required, he would once again launch an indefinite hunger strike for the separate statehood.The state government was using "repressive" measures to suppress the agitation, he alleged, and demanded that "police excesses" be stopped.The JAC leadership also said the three-day `rail-roko' programme would be launched from October 12, as planned.All educational institutions -- from the `KG to PG' level -- would remain closed as a part of the strike, though they were supposed reopen on October 10, after Dasara vacation.