By IANS
Raipur : Vast areas in Chhattisgarh's southern insurgency hit Bastar region have been blacked out after Maoist guerrillas blasted three 220-KV mega electricity towers, officials said Saturday.
"Maoists have brought down 220-KV electricity towers Friday and this has totally disrupted power supply to Dantewada, Bastar, Bijapur and Narayanpur districts," an official of the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board (CSEB) said.
Densely forested Dantewada, along with newly formed Bijapur and Narayanpur districts, is considered India's dominant Maoist stronghold where the rebels run a parallel government mainly in interior belts.
In March this year, the rebels stormed into a police camp in Bijapur district and massacred 55 policemen.
It is the worst power disruption since Chhattisgarh was formed in November 2000. Officials said work was on to restore power supply "but it may take a week to get things to normalcy".
Officials estimate that the loss to the electricity board would run into millions of rupees. The area is home to several major private companies where iron ore mining takes place on a large scale.