Bengaluru: Amid public outrage over the death of an eight-year-old girl by electrocution on Wednesday evening, Bescom has suddenly woken up and introduced ‘quick fix’ measures.
Anandi, 8, was electrocuted in a vegetable market in Kalasipalya when she accidentally came in contact with a live wire hanging low from an electric box.
A meeting of Junior Executive Engineers was called on Thursday evening, instructing them to check all the faulty lines in their respective zones and rectify them.
They were also given a list of do’s and don’ts by the Bescom Managing Director Mr Pankaj Kumar Pande.
Mr Pande said that the engineers have also been instructed to issue notices to the BBMP officials in case power line tampering is found. “There have been cases where the power lines, especially on the street lighting systems, have been tampered with and such cases must be taken up with the BBMP. Moreover, the Bescom has a wide network of electric poles and transformers and it will take time before we find all the faulty lines,” he said.
Power experts are upset over the death of a little girl and called for suspension of those who are responsible for the accident. “It’s a needless tragedy and shows how human life has become so cheap,” rued Mr M G Prabhakar, an expert on power and former chairman of Energy Committee of FKCCI.
“There have been a list of safety regulations issued by the Central Electricity Authority. The KERC is a body which must monitor the safety standards taken up by the Bescom engineers. It does not require any great investment. Before we lose more human lives, Bescom must take up rigorous monitoring of faulty lines in Bengaluru, especially in the areas where human congregation is higher,” he suggested.
Echoing similar views, President of FKCCI, Mr Sampath Kumar, called for strict measures against the officials responsible for such accidents. “There are a set of rules prescribed by the higher authorities and there can be no laxity on that. If there are some who are not carrying out safety measures the authorities must haul them off,” he said sternly.
