Six districts of the Santhal Pargana region, East and West Singhbhum and Ranchi districts were severely affected by the strike, official sources said.
While train services on Howrah-Mumbai route was disrupted as irate locals blocked trains at Jugsala at Jamshedpur in protest against the black out, the Jharkhand High Court served notices to the state government and the striking employees following disruption of power supply.
After the JSEB signed MoUs yesterday with Tata Power and CESC for power distribution in Jamshedpur and Ranchi respectively, the union had gone on strike.
The flash strike resulted in the government evoking Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) last night but none reported for duty, union leaders said.
In the state Assembly, Chief Minister Arjun Munda said the union did not serve notice. "They should have talked (to the government) before going on strike."
Prasant Chaturvedi, Convenor of the Coordination Committee of the JSEB Employees Union, said the government proposed a conditional dialogue which the union rejected.
"The government offered talks with us on the condition that we call off our strike before sitting for a dialogue. We have rejected the conditional offer," Chaturvedi said. (More)
