4 electrocuted during rain, Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd staff booked in one case

  • | Friday | 20th July, 2018

People have to pass through these water-logged areas as there’s no other way out and they have to work. It’s disheartening to see that nobody is doing anything on the matter. But the consequences have been disastrous.”Harpreet Kaur, a resident near Tibba Road, said, “There have been so many accidents in the past, yet the authorities are not answerable. The wires could be changed, but nobody does it. We all have witnessed adverse road conditions as well.

LUDHIANA: Dangling high-tension wires and live electricity poles have claimed the lives of four persons in the city in the past three days.Narinder Sharma, 34, was the latest victim to be electrocuted when he came in contact with a live electricity pole on Wednesday.Following a complaint from Narinder’s family, division number 6 police have now registered a case against officials of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) under Section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC.Narinder, a resident of Gopal Nagar, worked as a lab attendant in ESI Hospital was the sole breadwinner of his family.Varinder Chopra, sub-inspector, division number 6 police, said, “We will arrest the PSPCL employees after an investigation in the matter.”These live wires have been giving harrowing time to two-wheelers specially during the rain.High-tension wires could be seen hanging loosely over shops, electricity poles. The worst affected areas are Dal Bazar, Sundar Nagar, Madho Puri, Gur Mandi and Salem Tabri.Chief Engineer of PSPCL (Ludhiana) Paramjit Singh said, “The maintenance work of electricity poles in the city is the task of the municipal corporation , but still they will inquire into the death and punish officials if they are found guilty.”“PSPCL will hold a special awareness drive in the coming days to make city residents aware on how to protect themselves from high-tension wires. Besides snapping all illegal connection in the city, high-tension wires in old city areas will be covered by insulator cables to protect residents from electrocution,” he added.“We will conduct a meeting with all zonal in charge of PSPCL, identify the sensitive areas, do all necessary arrangement to overcome the issue of electrocution during the rainy season,” the official added.Meanwhile, residents of the affected areas vent out their anger, expressing concern over these deaths.Manpreet Singh, a shopkeeper in Gur Mandi, said, “We have to deal with such issues every year. It’s disheartening to see that nobody is doing anything on the matter. People have to pass through these water-logged areas as there’s no other way out and they have to work. But the consequences have been disastrous.”Harpreet Kaur, a resident near Tibba Road, said, “There have been so many accidents in the past, yet the authorities are not answerable. The wires could be changed, but nobody does it. The roads and drains could be reconstructed and cleaned to prevent water-logging but again, nobody pays heed.”Aman Sharma, a shopkeeper in Dal Mandi, expressed, “We all are aware of the fact that heavy rains sometimes damages wires. We all have witnessed adverse road conditions as well. But we are civilians, the authorities are responsible for maintaining roads and keeping a check on wires, but unfortunately no measures are taken in these regards.”The first case was reported in Chawal Bazaar on July 16 when Ravi Kumar was electrocuted when he came in contact with a shutter which had got electrified due to loose cables.The second case was reported the same day. Bharat Kumar (32), a worker at a steel factory, got electrocuted after he accidentally touched a pole.Chandrashekhar (50), a resident of Dhillon Nagar, Daba, died of electrocution while trying to get rid of rainwater from his house after heavy rains on Tuesday.

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