One dies of electrocution in Malda, about 6 injured

A casual employee working for the contracting company under the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) died of electrocution while installing electricity poles.

Six more were injured in the incident and two of them are undergoing treatment at the Chanchal Super Specialty Hospital and are stated to be in a critical condition.

The work was going on under the state government’s High Voltage Distribution System (HVDS) project at Dakshinpaka Mallik Para village of Mahanandapur Gram Panchayat in Chanchal I block on Tuesday evening.

An electricity pole was being installed for the purpose of electricity connection in the village, the work for which began three days ago by a private company.

On Tuesday afternoon during the work, seven workers atop the pole fell down after coming into contact with the 11,000 volt wire passing by the pole. Locals rushed the injured to Chanchal Super Specialty Hospital.

Among them, one worker named Abu Taleb (37) was declared dead by the doctors Two other workers named Rajkumar Rajbanshi and Ansar Ali are undergoing treatment in the hospital in a critical condition. The rest of the workers were released after first aid. All the seven workers are said to be residents of Raiganj Police Station area.

The body of the deceased electricity worker was sent to Malda Medical College for post-mortem by the police.

Shahid Ali, one of the workers, said: “We were working on the pole. I did not understand what happened suddenly. I fell down feeling a shock.”

Ujjal Roy, Regional Manager of WBSEDCL in Malda, said: “We have done a preliminary enquiry and a detailed investigation has been initiated. Anything further can be said after receiving the report of this investigation and the post mortem report of the body of the deceased worker. We are taking all steps so that the

bereaved family is not deprived of any benefit.”