Lineman dies in Silchar while on duty; Contractor blames electricity board for electrocution

In a shocking turn of events, the death of an electrical work labourer has created a huge ruckus in the Udharbond area of the Cachar district. According to the available information, the negligence of the Udharbond Electricity Department has caused the death of a daily wager.

Jantu Das, a resident of Dargakona was working with the Electricity Department as a daily wage labourer. He and the team of other labourers have been working on the electric line wiring in the Pangram area of Udharbond. The line was supposed to be shut down from 6:30 in the morning till 7:00 PM, but at around 8:00 AM when Jantu Das climbed up the pole, he got electrocuted and fell off from 50 feet.

Speaking about the whole incident, Jantu Das’ cousin and a fellow-labourer said, “We have been working together this morning, just half an hour back we both climbed above the pole for work and later I came down for a minor work. He was there. Suddenly I saw him falling from the pole. He got electrocuted while the line was supposed to be shut”.

The contractor involved in this work has held ASEB responsible for Jantu’s death, he said, “Upon telephonic conversation, I got clearance for laying the line today. The office gave us shutdown time from early in the morning and that’s when the labourers started their work. But unfortunately, one of our labourers got electrocuted and fell off 50 feet from the pole. I’ve called Pankaj Sir, the Junior Engineer this morning as well to keep the line shut down. I’ve had repeated conversations with the AGM Sir too for the same. Even after all these, if this mishap has happened, I hold ASEB completely responsible”.

Later on, police came to recover the body of the dead labourer and his body was sent for postmortem. But it has also been alleged that, the police reached almost after one and half an hour.

These mistakes and negligence by the department shouldn’t be overlooked. If the line was kept clear or even if the labourers were given proper safety equipment and insulation gloves, this would not have happened. We would not have lost just a 28-year-old labourer today. A few days back too, there was another similar death due to negligence of the same department in Katlicherra.