Hundreds of vehicles stranded on highway due to TRS blockade

Hyderabad, Dec 29 (UNI) Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the 250 km Rajiv Highway between Thoomukunta in Ranga Reddy district to Mancherial in Adilabad district as the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) resorted to a 'Mahadharna', blocking traffic, demanding supply of power for nine hours to farmers.

TRS chief and former Union Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao formally launched the 'Mahadharna' at noon at Tumukunta, while party workers and farmers sat on the highway from the early hours. They came in bullock carts sat on the road, cooked and ate food.

TRS leader A Narendra launched the dharna in Karimnagar town early today. While Mr Narendra would travel towards Hyderabad, addressing meetings, Mr Rao would proceed towards Mancherial. The dharna is being staged in Rangareddy, Medak, Karimnagar and Adilabad districts.

Police made elaborate arrangements to avoid untoward incidents.

In Karimnagar, Mr Narendra said the agitation would be peaceful, but if it went out of hand, it was the government's responsibility.

Mr Narendra alleged that instead of using water from the Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar projects to generate power, the government wanted to supply water to the Andhra region for the second crop.

If the government had started power production at both reservoirs earlier, the present crisis could have been averted, he said and asked Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy why he was unable to provide nine-hour supply when his predecessor Chandrababu Naidu had been able to do so.

Police and APSRTC authorities diverted traffic from Adilabad to Hyderabad through Nizamabad and Warangal highways to avoid congestion.

No untoward incidents were reported till the afternoon.

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