BICHOLIM
A 34-year-old linemen from Gaonkarwada-Pilgao got electrocuted when he was attending to a fault atop an electricity pole at Vhalshi-Bicholim on Friday morning.
The death sparked off outrage among locals of Vhalshi and residents of Pilgao, who rushed to the site on hearing the news, as the crowd refused to allow the body to be lowered from the pole for nearly 2 hours and blamed the electricity department for negligence.
According to sources, the incident took place at about 11.30 am as the lineman Manoj Zambaulikar had gone to attend to a fault at the electricity pole, after a fitness centre nearby had complained of low voltage.
Power department officers claim that power supply had been shut down while Zambaulikar went up the electricity pole.
However, a short while later, Zambaulikar came in contact with live wires and got electrocuted.
News of the death spread like wildfire as people, both from Vhalshi and Pilgao rushed to the site.
Accusing the electricity department of negligence, an irate crowd refused to allow police to lower the body from the pole and demanded the presence of electricity department officials to explain the circumstances leading to the death of the lineman and who should be held accountable for the tragedy.
Some electricity department officials along with a police team later went to meet the crowd.
Locals pointed out that the lineman did not have safety gear like gloves and boots, to protect him from coming into contact with electricity.
Confirming that power in the area had been shut down to enable Zambaulikar to attend to the fault on the electricity pole, the officers assured to ascertain the cause leading to the death.
After two hours of intense discussions between the officers and people, the body was finally lowered from the pole by a team of firefighters.
Bicholim police later sent the body to the GMC hospital at Bambolim for an autopsy. The final rites were performed later in the evening.
The deceased lineman had joined the electricity department barely two years ago and he is survived by his wife and a 6-month-old daughter. Incidentally, his mother is employed as a sweeper at the same electricity office in Bicholim.
Incidentally, sources said Linemen’s Day was celebrated in Bicholim on Thursday and officers had advised the linemen to use safety equipment like gloves and boots while attending to faults on electricity poles and other equipment which is connected to electricity.
This is the third incident of a lineman getting electrocuted in Bicholim taluka in the last few years, after similar deaths were reported in Kudchidrem and Lamgao.
