PANAJI
A labourer was killed and four others injured in an electrocution accident during pole erection work at Xelpem, Sanguem, on Saturday evening, but the police action of booking an electricity department engineer along with the contractor for negligence has upset colleagues.
The deceased, identified as Manoj Kumar Mahato, a native of Jharkhand, was engaged by the contractor for erecting poles.
Four other workers -- Saijeet Naik from Ponda, Dhaneshwar Chintaman Mahato and Yugal Buddahan Mahato from Jharkhand, and Sunil Singh from Madhya Pradesh -- were injured in the accident close to a high-tension line.
Sanguem police registered a case against Junior Engineer Akshay and contractor Nardev Singh. The complaint, filed by PSI Krishnadeep Borkar, alleges that power supply to the high-tension line was not disconnected before work began and that supervision was inadequate. Both were booked under provisions relating to negligence.
The move of the police has upset engineers across the department. One junior engineer argued that responsibility for shutdowns lies higher up in the chain of command and field engineers are being unfairly singled out.
The incident has once again raised questions about safety practices in Goa’s electricity department, where linemen and line-helpers are often deployed without protective gear or proper line clearance, leading to accidents.
