Kolkata: A firefighter died while removing an uprooted tree using a power cutter, he got electrocuted on Wednesday afternoon at Belur in Howrah after Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) personnel misinformed them that the power on the electrical wire has been disconnected.
The deceased firefighter Sukanta Singha Roy (27) was posted in Bally fire station and lived in Tarakeswar.
On Wednesday Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee instructed Additional Director General (ADG), Law and Order, Gyanwant Singh and Commissioner of Howrah City Police, Kunal Aggarwal to take stringent action and arrest the responsible person immediately. She has also tweeted to express her condolence to the family of the firefighter.
She said, "Negligence is also a crime. I have directed police to take action against the person for whose negligence the incident took place. This is a criminal offence."
Banerjee further informed that the state government will stand by the family of Roy who will get Rs 10 lakh from insurance. Also a member of his family will be given a job. As soon as the instruction came, three CESC personnel have been arrested.
According to sources, on Wednesday around 12:45 pm, a team from Bally fire station went to a place in front of Belur fire station on G T Road near Belur bazar where a tree was obstructing the movement of vehicles. Before climbing up the ladder, Fire department officials asked Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) staff to shut down the power. Few minutes later CESC reportedly informed that the power supply to the wire has been disconnected.
After getting confirmation of CESC, Roy climbed up the ladder with a power cutter and started cutting the tree. As soon as the power cutter touched the High Tension (HT) electrical wire, he got electrocuted and fell down from at last 20 feet height. He was immediately rushed to Howrah District Hospital where Roy was declared brought dead.
After getting the news, Director General (DG), Fire Jag Mohan went to Howrah District Hospital. He alleged that due to negligence of CESC personnel a young firefighter has lost his life. "We have lodged complaint against those who are responsible for the negligence," said Mohan.
State Fire minister Sujit Bose on Wednesday afternoon went to Bally fire station where Roy's body was brought for guard of honour. There Bose and other officials of Fire department paid floral tribute to Roy. He said: "the incident happened due to negligence of CESC. They have given
green signal following which Roy had climbed up the
ladder. As soon as he got electrocuted, CESC workers left the spot."