Hyderabad: Malisetty Venkateswara Rao, retired district and sessions judge, has moved a PIL before the Hyderabad High Court seeking a direction to the southern discom and the GHMC to take steps to restore all electrical lines, repair public roads and close all manholes forthwith. Rao cited incidents of deaths caused due to electrocution during rains in the city and due to persons drowning in manholes.
He stated that a 48-year-old private employee Raghuram was electrocuted at Dharam Karam Road on June 25. “Raghuram had taken shelter from the rain under a tree when a live wire snapped and fell on the road. The road being inundated, he received an electric shock and lost his life,” Mr Rao stated. On the same day, one Moti Yadav, a tea vendor, died after slipping into a manhole that was covered with rain water.
The retired judge said both the deaths were due to sheer negligence of the GHMC and discom authorities. Maintaining that the people are suffering — as there was no coordination between the departments in taking up their respective works, he urged the court to direct the authorities to take all preventive steps to safeguard the lives of the people by conducting repairs to all the public roads and closure of all manholes across Telangana.
