Man electrocuted at Nayagaon, second death in two months

A 48-year-old man, Mewa Lal, was electrocuted after coming in contact with an electrified pole near a pool of water in Safeda Colony, Nayagaon, early this morning.

The father of three children remained in the stagnant water for nearly one and a half hours as no one came forward to help, residents said. The incident occurred around 5:30 am amid rain.

Area councillor Bhupinder Singh called Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) officials, who reached the spot and cut the power supply to the area before retrieving the body.

The victim was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead. The police shifted the body to the mortuary of the Kharar Subdivisional Hospital.

An eight-year-old girl was electrocuted in a similar incident near Kumaon Colony at Nayagaon on August 8.

Residents alleged that the area was rife with exposed electrical wires, illegal “kundis”, tilted power poles and a mesh of telecommunication cables. They also criticised the PSPCL for failing to address these issues.

“Even bigger is the web of corrupt PSPCL officials here who are hell-bent on taking the lives of innocent people,” said Bhupinder Singh, holding PSPCL officials responsible for the two deaths.

When contacted, PSPCL officials said an electricity connection had been taken from the meter of a house to a shop across the street. The wire had been tied to an iron pole, which was not a PSPCL pole and was meant for telecommunication wires.

“Probably, the insulation of the electric wire was weak, due to which the current flowed through the pole down to earth and spread in a pool of rainwater,” said PSPCL JE Sandeep Kumar after inspecting the spot. A complaint has been lodged with the police.

High Court warning

Barely a week ago, the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bench of acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor had warned the chief engineer and the superintending engineer that “personal responsibility” would be fixed if remedial steps were not taken. The warning came during the hearing of a petition filed by Nayagaon councillor Bhupinder Singh. Earlier, the HC had directed the PSPCL to conduct an audit of the power infrastructure at Nayagaon.