Snapped power line costs UP dear,NHRC orders relief

Snapped power line costs UP dear,NHRC orders relief
UNITED NEWS OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, JAN 11: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Uttar Pradesh Government to pay an interim relief of Rs 10,000 each to ten people who were seriously injured when a high voltage electric line in Hapur, snapped and fell, and initiate action against the electricity board officers responsible for maintaining the line.

The Commission also asked the Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Board (UPSEB) to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the officials who were expected to exercise control and supervision over the installation and maintenance of the line but failed to provide adequate safeguards to the public.

The board should also examine the adequacy of existing rules/guidelines of instructions for installation and maintenance of high-tension electric lines in the area so as to avoid recurrence of such incidents in future, the commission said and directed the State Government to file compliance report by end of February, 2000.

Taking suo-motu cognizance of news reports thatten people were seriously injured when an eleven-KV electricity line snapped and in Hapur had reported and similar accidents happening before, the Commission had issued notice to the UP electricity board. A report of the UPSEB confirmed the accident but tried to explain that the colony where accident had taken place was unauthorised and built much after the eleven kilo volts high tension electric lines were laid and such construction was not permissible under Indian Electricity Rules, 1956.

The report highlighted that accident occurred on account of snapping of the high-voltage electric wire between two poles having a distance of 20 metres. The wire broke as it was of inadequate capacity/strength and was unable to take the excessive load of 180 amperes on an eleven-KV feeder line. The live wire was not guarded and it fell on a house injuring six women and four children living there, the report stated.

From the report of the UPSEB, the Commission felt that the authorities concerned were grossly negligentalmost bordering on recklessness, because they allowed a current of much higher ampere to flow in a line which was unable to take up such heavy load, resulting in the melting and snapping of the wire.

Further, the stretch of this power line was not properly guarded. Had the electricity board taken care to appoint security or installed proper guarding devicealong the high-tension power line the accident could perhaps have been avoided. In that case, even if the wire had broken down, it would not have fallen down and thus had not come in contact with anybody.