Chennai

Due to the strike by the union of employees in the electricity department of Chandigarh, there have been instances of power outages in some parts of the city, mobile operators' association COAI said in a statement.

It said that the power outage in parts of Chandigarh has impacted telecom towers and disrupted mobile network connectivity in certain areas, and telcos are talking all measures to power their sites and exchanges by using alternate sources.

What's happening in Chandigarh?

• Many areas in Chandigarh faced power outages since Monday night after employees of the electricity department launched a three-day strike to protest a privatisation move.

• The outage forced government hospitals in the Union Territory to reschedule elective surgeries, besides adversely affecting residential, industrial and commercial areas in the city.

• Power disruption has also hit industrial production and manufacturing at some units in the city.

• Online classes of some students were also affected in many areas in the city. Some coaching institutes even suspended classes for the day because of power outages.

• The Punjab and Haryana High court took suo motu notice of the "electricity crisis", and asked the union territory chief engineer to appear before it on Wednesday.

Why do the employees of Electricity Department protest?

Employees of the electricity department, under the banner of the UT Powermen Union, went on a strike on Monday night. President of the union Dhian Singh said they are protesting against the UT Chandigarh administration's decision to privatise the electricity department.

The protesting employees claimed that if the electricity department was privatised, their service conditions would change and it also could lead to a rise in power tariffs. They also held a massive protest here.

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