RANIPET: A 26-year-old man was electrocuted to death after stepping on a snapped live wire in Arakkonam on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Vignesh J of Pudukesavaram.
According to a relative of the victim, the incident occurred on Wednesday night when the youth had stepped out of his house in search of his cow. "As Vignesh failed to return, we searched the surrounding areas. Around 6 am (Thursday), we turned off the power supply and checked the nearby field, where he was found dead," the relative said.
Later in the day, Vignesh's relatives along with the nearby villagers blocked the Arakkonam-Perambakkam road and stage a protest, condemning the negligence of the electricity board (EB) officials. They alleged that despite repeated requests to repair the low-hanging power lines in several areas of Pudukesavaram, no action was taken, leading to such tragic incidents. "Two or three cows have also died in the area due to snapped and low-hanging EB wires," said a villager.
The field where Vignesh died falls within the Thakkolam EB office limits. When contacted, Vezhavendran, junior engineer of Thakkolam EB office, told TNIE that the office received information about the snapped wire only by Thursday morning. "A decision regarding the compensation will be taken after receiving the post-mortem report," he said, adding that he had not received any complaints in the last four months.
Meanwhile, Arakkonam MLA S Ravi said that EB's negligence resulted in Vignesh's death. "In Pudukesavaram panchayat, most of the electric wires are old and look like they will might snap and fall anytime. In the Thakkolam EB section, there are just two wiremen (ideally six) and no helpers (ideally four) and there are not enough staff to check faults and fix them," Ravi alleged.