BENGALURU: In a freak accident, a 27-year-old lineman of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM), was electrocuted while repairing an electrical supply line at Sampige road at Malleshwaram on Tuesday morning. Following the incident, BESCOM staff staged a protest and blamed senior officials for negligence and for not taking precautionary measures. They blocked the road near Mantri Mall on Sampige road and traffic was affected for a while.
The deceased has been identified as Pradeep P, a native of Kunigal, who was residing at KEB quarters in Rajajinagar. A senior police officer said that the incident occurred around 11.30am and Pradeep had gone to attend a complaint at an electrical pole near Lakshmi Gold Khazana.
During the course of the repair work, he had to climb the pole without having any safety equipment While repairing, he came in contact with the live wire and he fell down. He was rushed to a private hospital but was declared brought dead. The postmortem of the body is yet to be conducted since Pradeep's parents have to come to the city.
While there was no official statement from BESCOM on the issue, a senior official who inspected the spot said that all possible safety measures, like the opening of junctions to prevent the flow of power, had been taken. "Based on our inspection, all safety measures were taken for the lineman to work on repairs. An official inquiry by the Electrical Inspectorate will point out the definitive reason behind the incident.
As per our preliminary inspection, we suspect that there was a reverse flow from a generator in the area which resulted in the electrocution. The area has several commercial complexes and most of them have generator supply," said a senior official. Reverse flow, or backfeeding of power, is when the generator, used to power the building or house, is plugged into a wall outlet. When started, the generator will then energise the lines even if the main power supply is cut, putting power company workers at risk.
According to the police, "Three staff including Pradeep and a supervisor had come to attend the complaint and Pradeep's father had filed a case against junior executive engineer and supervisor for the negligence. We yet to take statement from the officials to take action against the accused", an investigation officer from Malleshwaram police station said.
Past incidents April 2016
44-year-old lineman Madiwala M. Mathapathi was electrocuted while repairing an electric pole at the Yelahanka industrial area. An IT company situated nearby switched on their generator when Mathapathi was on the pole leading to backfeeding of power and his death .
July 2015
Suresh Babu H, a 48-year-old lineman with BESCOM, was electrocuted and died when he was repairing a transformer in Frazer Town. An apartment block is believed to have switched on their generator leading to his death.