Goa: Poles-laden trucks overturns at Borim, kills three power department staff

PANAJI/PONDA: Three electricity department staffers died on the spot at Borim junction around 1.30pm on Thursday after the department’s truck in which they were travelling in turned turtle. The three were crushed to death under the power poles that they were transporting from Margao to Marcel.
Three other staffers, who were also trapped under the poles, are undergoing treatment at GMC. Line helper Pranav Naik, from Kumbharjua was operated on and line helper Vinayak Gaude from Bhoma is out of danger. However, the condition of line helper Ganashyam Naik, from Tivrem, was critical.
Police have named the deceased as line helper Pundalik Jalmi, 45, from Khandola-Marcel, assistant linesman wireman Sameer Parab, 42, and line helper Sagun Gawas, 28, both residents of Ambeshiwada, Amona.
Three of the staffers, including the driver, were sitting inside the cabin.
While six were sitting on the open carrier section of the truck with the poles when the driver lost control of the vehicle on the slope after Borim bridge, at the Borim circle, executive engineer Ponda division Deepak Krishna Naik told TOI.
The staff driver and another line helper, who were sitting in the truck’s cabin, suffered minor injuries and received treatment at a hospital in Ponda. One staffer escaped with no injuries.
“The truck was carrying ten poles, each 7.5m long which were drawn from central stores in Margao and were being transported to Ponda,” Naik said.
Naik said the driver was a teetotaller and added that the road engineering at the circle at Borim is flawed.
A heavy duty crane was deployed to rescue them by lifting the truck. “However, by the time the vehicle was lifted, three had died and three were critically injured as the poles had fallen on them,” said a Borim local said.
The occupants of the cabin linesman/wireman Ladu Canconkar, from Khorlim, line helper Samimulla Khan, from Bethora have been discharged after providing primary treatment, while driver Pradosh Naik, from Shiroda, has been admitted for observation at the Ponda sub-district hospital.
Chief minster Pramod Sawant from whose constituency the deceased hail, power minister Nilesh Cabral, chief electrical engineer Raghuvir Keni, superintending engineers and multiple staff and engineers from the electricity department visited the Goa Medical college.
The last rites are expected to be performed on Friday.
The incident cast a gloom on the department that has been struggling to restore power in difficult conditions over the past few days following torrential downpour coupled with strong winds.
When asked about compensation chief electrical engineer Raghuvir Keni said the department has a system that will take care of compensation. “It is already in process. We will give it quickly,” he told TOI.
Although no announcement of compensation was made, sources said the ex gratia compensation to the families of the deceased could be around Rs 7 lakh each.
A staffer said there is no separate vehicle given to them to travel. “We have been travelling like this for many years. Our job is such that we require open tempos. It’s not feasible to carry poles, ladders and tree pruners in closed vehicles,” the staffer said.
Power minister Nilesh Cabral said that he saluted all the department personnel who “work in all kinds of conditions to give reliable power supply to the people of Goa” and assured that the government will provide all medical care to the injured personnel.
“During this time of grief, my sympathies, thoughts and prayers are with the grieving families. We also stand solidly with the injured personnel and their families. Government will do all that is necessary to comfort and assist the family members, whose loss we will not be able to compensate in real sense. The Government is also committed to providing all medical care and facilities to the injured personnel so that they recovery very fast and resume duties,” he stated.
The incident has shocked the entire department, he said.