Painter electrocuted by HT line in Hudkeshwar

Nagpur: A painter was electrocuted by an 11 KV high tension (HT) line in Pipla Fata under Hudkeshwar police station on Wednesday morning. The police have registered a case of accidental death.
The deceased, Shailesh Bhandarkar (42), was painting the first floor of Ganesh Raut’s two-storeyed house when he lost his balance. Bhandarkar grabbed the HT line to prevent himself from falling down. The line was live and he died instantly.
MSEDCL’s assistant engineer Rajesh Akare, in-charge of Hudkeshwar area, said the 11 KV line had been erected years ago but Raut’s house had been constructed recently. “It is against the rules but unfortunately many people do this. We will submit a report to the electrical inspector, who will decide whether to take any action against the house owner,” the AE told TOI.
HT lines continue to claim lives of poor workmen every year. Last year a construction worker had died when he came in contact with a HT line in Wathoda while an electrician’s right leg was badly burnt due to same reason in Gorewada.
In May and June 2017, eleven-year old twins Piyush and Priyansh Dhar had lost their lives when they came in contact with a HT line in Armors Township, Sugat Nagar.
Taking suo motu cognizance of TOI reports, Nagpur bench of Bombay high court had constituted an expert committee to study the problem of HT lines in the city.
The committee has identified about 6,000 illegal constructions. Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has served notice to many owners and razed some illegal constructions too including Armors Township.
A committee member said that it would take another two to three months to complete the report and submit it to HC. “Our work is held up due to the lockdown. It will resume as soon as the lockdown is lifted,” he told TOI.