Patna: Two persons died of electrocution while repairing a wire in the Punpun area of rural Patna late evening on Saturday.
The incident took place around 11.30pm on Saturday, when current was supplied suddenly from one side despite the fact that the repair work was on. Sujeet Kumar and Chotu Kumar, who were engaged in the work, came in contact with an 11,000-volt live wire, leading to their death.
Two others, Ashok Prasad (an electrician from the electricity department) and Sitaram (a local electrician), suffered injuries and are undergoing treatment at PMCH.
The electricity department has ordered an internal inquiry into the incident.
"The incident is shocking and it is an act of negligence," said R. Lakshmanan, managing director, South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd. "Assistant engineer Raju Kumar and junior engineer Jairam Singh have been suspended, while the switchboard operator from the sub-station where the electric supply was made has been terminated from his job. The incident occurred as the staff that were looking after the fault did not follow the standard operating procedure while attending to the breakdown."
Sources said a power breakdown had occurred at Punpun Bazar due to a fault in the electric wire. On the complaint of local residents, Ashok and three local electricians had gone to attend to the fault. One group was carrying out repair work around 500m from the Central Bank area. While repair work at the Central Bank site was going on, the other group of electricians finished the work. Sources said the engineers and switchboard operators at the sub-station assumed that the fault at both the sides had been rectified and hence resumed power supply.
After the incident, there was panic in the area with local residents staging a demonstration at Punpun Bazar. On Sunday too, residents burnt tyres on the road.
"Power breakdowns due to faulty wires have become a regular feature. No effort is being taken by the power department to repair dangling wires." said Sanjay Rai, a local resident.
The residents' protest disrupted traffic on the Patna-Punpun route.
