Hyderabad: A 27-year-old private metre reader accidentally fell off an electric pole on which he was working and succumbed to his injuries on Saturday.
The police have identified the victim as M. Shankar. According to the police the victim climbed the electric pole to connect a new metre on Saturday evening. He was electrocuted and fell down, resulting in severe head injury. The locals immediately shifted the victim to nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Speaking to this newspaper, G. Nagaraju, convener of Telangana Vidyut Karmika Sangam (TVKS) said, “It was not his work to climb the pole. The lineman concerned had to look after the connection. He was just a metre reader who gets a minimal amount of Rs 1 for checking one house metre.”
“Nowadays, private workers are climbing poles and end up losing their lives. There are also not trained,” added Nagaraju. The private contractor who hired the man gave Rs 1 lakh to his family on humanitarian grounds.
Speaking to this newspaper Praveen Kumar, assistant engineer, The Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana (TSSPDCL), Yapral said, “Shankar doesn’t have permission to climb the pole since he does not know about the connections. Because of this, he switched off the power of the wrong transformer and climbed the pole. Hence, he was electrocuted.”
The police have registered a case under Section 174 CrPC.
