Death trap: Electric wires lie on the roads

Ranchi, Oct. 17: For 12-year-old Choti Kumari, death came sudden and fast.

A Class VI student of Lalgutwa High School under the Ratu police station area, Choti had started for her classes from home at Kathalmor on the outskirts of the city. But for this bright student who aspired to be a doctor, an unattended live support wire of a transformer, just half a km from her school, was lurking behind.

Before Choti could sense the danger, she was silenced by three minutes of trembling and shrieking in shock.

The incident took place around 9.45 am. The residents said the livewire had been lying open for the last few days. ?Several complaints to the JSEB did not yield any results,? said a resident.

Following the mishap, about 50 students, along with their teachers and residents, blocked the road for more than two hours demanding compensation for the family and immediate action against the people responsible.

The protesters did not allow the police to remove the body till higher officials arrived. ?A few days back a youth received shocks from the wire. He had a narrow escape,? a protester said.

?We lodged complaints at least twice before at the Mandar sub station. No one paid heed to it. They could have fenced the transformer marking it as danger zone,? shouted another.

Choti?s father, Lodha Oraon, was inconsolable. ?My daughter died because of the negligence of the officials. Why didn?t they repair the connection despite knowing there was a fault?? he wept.

The protestors have demanded a compensation of Rs 5 lakh.

Banarasi Prasad, officer in charge of Ratu police station, said: ?We have learnt from the people of the area that they had made repeated complaints to the Mandar sub station but no action was taken. We will take strict action against those responsible.?

A JSEB official from the sub-station said: ?We never received any complaints from the people. Moreover, the ?Low Tension? wire did not hamper the flow of electricity anywhere. We did not realise there was a fault.?

On September 16, an elderly couple died of electrocution when they accidentally came in contact with a similar wire lying on the field at Garu village under Kanke police station area. The wire had been lying there for three days and repeated complaints fell on deaf ears of JSEB.

Ratu Block officials had announced Rs 3,000 to their family for the last rites. Here, the administration has promised quick compensation.