GHAZIABAD: A 31-year-old software engineer had a narrow escape after an electricity pole came crashing down on his car, barely a couple of minutes after he had stepped out of the vehicle to visit a departmental store on Friday.The accident took place just behind the zonal office of Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation on the main road separating Vasundhara sectors 10 and 12.Two more cars parked near the rear boundary wall of the municipal corporation office were damaged in the collapse of concrete pole. The bottom portion of the pole fell on the right side of the engineer’s car, a Verna, damaging the driver’s door and the rear-view mirror completely.Its middle portion damaged the rear bumper of a Renault Kwid belonging to a playschool teacher while its top end crashed into the front windshield and bumper of a Tata Tiago.The Tiago belongs to one Vipul Agarwal, director of an engineering firm that has its office in a commercial complex across the road. No one was, however, injured.According to eyewitnesses, the incident took place when an earthmover was moving near the rear boundary wall of the municipal corporation.“The pole got uprooted as the overhead electricity cables were stretched after getting entangled with the loader of the earthmover. I would have been crushed if it had happened a couple of minutes early because the pole fell on the driver’s side of my car,” Agarwal said.All three vehicle-owners submitted a complaint at the Indirapuram police station.“There was no earthmover nearby when I had parked my car on the roadside around 45 minutes before the pole came crashing down. We went to the police with a complaint but were told to write applications to the municipal corporation and the electricity department too,” the software engineer, Amrit Pal, said.Electricity department officials said the cables that got entangled with the earthmover were not carrying any electricity.“The pole fell along the alignment of the road and not across it, which would, otherwise, have resulted in more damage. There was no electricity flowing through the cables either. We will ask the municipal corporation to provide details as to how the accident took place,” discom executive engineer Gyanendra Dwivedi said.The pole was yet to be removed from above the vehicles at 5 pm, more than four hours after the incident took place. “The earthmover had been brought by the water works department. It is certain that the pole was dilapidated and weak in structure. We are trying to find out what led to the accident by the earthmover,” additional municipal commissioner SP Yadav told TOI.The police have registered a non-cognizable report under section 427 (mischief causing damage) of IPC in Indirapuram police station.“The case has been registered against an unidentified person as of now. An inquiry is underway. Any further action will be taken only after we identify the agency or person that is culpable for the incident,” said acting SHO of Indirapuram, Rishipal Singh.

Stay updated with all the Ghaziabad Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.