15 people electrocuted at Namami Gange project site in Uttarakhand
State health minister says 7 injured people were being airlifted to AIIMS, Rishikesh
Fifteen people were electrocuted at a Namami Gange project site on the banks of the Alaknanda River in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Wednesday, state health minister Dhan Singh Rawat said.
Rawat, who is in Chamoli, said that seven people injured in the incident were being airlifted to the All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS) in Rishikesh. He added that a magisterial inquiry has been ordered.
Rawat said that Ganesh Lal, a security guard on duty at the Namami Ganga sewerage plant site, was first electrocuted around 11.30 am. He added that when locals gathered there, they touched a side railing and were also electrocuted.
One police sub-inspector and three home guards were among the dead.
In a tweet, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami offered his condolences to the families of those killed. “Extremely painful news has been received of many casualties due to electrocution in Chamoli. Those injured in the accident have been sent to the nearest hospital for treatment. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into this unfortunate incident. I pray to God for peace to the departed souls and speedy recovery of the injured.” The Namami Gange project is an integrated conservation scheme that seeks to abate pollution as well as to conserve and rejuvenate the Ganga.
