Despite electrocution deaths, Chandigarh MC fails to fix loose live wires in parks

The death of an auto driver by electrocution near a Mauli Jagran park here recently has once again exposed the Municipal Corporation’s failure to maintain junction boxes of electric poles in the city.

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While the Chief Engineer has sought a report from the Superintending Engineer (Horticulture and Electrical) over the incident, residents say a more permanent solution is required.

The auto driver died after coming in contact with an electric pole near a park in the Vikas Nagar area of Mauli Jagran on Friday night. He was at the park with his young daughters. Local residents said the junction boxes of streetlight poles had been in need of repairs for a long time now. The wires, they added, are exposed but no action has been taken by the authorities.

A social activist, RK Garg said he had raised the issue of exposed wires dangling from the junction boxes with the civic body on multiple occasions, but to no avail. He also emphasised on the need for a proper policy to compensate the families of those killed or seriously injured due to the fault and carelessness on the part of the civic body.

Sunil Kumar, a resident of Mauli Jagran, said the area has become vulnerable to electrocution incidents, especially in the monsoon season. Rajesh Kumar, another resident, said children who frequent the parks in the area can also meet with such accidents if repairs are not carried out urgently.

“The MC must start identifying the damaged junction boxes and fix the exposed wires to ensure the safety of people,” they said.

Notably, this is not the first electrocution-related death in the area. A 17-year-old boy had also lost his life in a similar incident in Manimajra in 2017.

A civic body officer said there were more than 50,000 junction boxes in the city and the department was facing the problem as their covers were often stolen by miscreants.

Aam Aadmi Party and Congress councillors, meanwhile, targeted the civic body after the Mauli Jagran incident.

Deputy Mayor Taruna Mehta said several complaints had been lodged regarding the damaged junction boxes but the problem had not been resolved so far. “The boxes of street light poles are damaged across the city, from parks to roads. Wires are lying exposed at many places,” she said, adding that several boxes are lying damaged even in her own ward.

Yogseh Dhingra, AAP councillor, said he would raise the issue in the next House meeting of the civic body.