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| A row of bamboo poles support low-tension wires at Ansarnagar in Chandil on Monday. Picture by Bhola Prasad |
• A cow electrocuted by a live wire a fortnight ago
• Two persons, including a 12-year-old, numbed with electric shock yesterday
Jamshedpur, May 9: Over 7,000 residents of two panchayat areas, about 15 km from here, are living with the danger of frequent electrocution, courtesy Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB).
Blatantly ignoring safety considerations, the state power board is using bamboo poles instead of cement ones to channel low-tension lines to some 2,500 households in Ansarnagar and Tajnagar in Kapali block of Chandil sub-division in neighbouring Seraikela-Kharsawan district, leaving them highly susceptible to short-circuits particularly during rain and storm.
A half-a-kilometre walk brings to sight as many as 75 bamboo poles.
A JSEB junior engineer, in charge of Chandil, said that normally, a poor conductor, bamboo did transmit electric charge when wet. So, its use instead of cement poles is illegal and a deplorable pointer to gross negligence.
If hoisting live wires on bamboo poles is not precarious enough, the area also has only two transformers instead of the required four.
Yesterday, the season’s 12th Nor’wester had spelt serious trouble at Ansarnagar, when an 11,000KVA line crossed into the domestic circuit without passing through a transformer following a snag.
Television sets, refrigerators and other electrical appliances were damaged, and two residents injured.
“We get nervous whenever there is a gust of wind. There is every possibility of the bamboo poles collapsing. The wires are live and can cause fatal injuries. They are also old and sagging, and need urgent replacement,” said S.K. Hasan, a resident of Ansarnagar.
Feroz Ahmed Khan, another resident, whose refrigerator was damaged during yesterday’s storm, said they had lodged complaints with JSEB on several occasions, but in vain. “We often deal with short-circuit fires. We have lost cattle, people have been injured and property damaged.”
JSEB general manager (Singhbhum Electricity Supply Area) P.P. Porh, under whose jurisdiction this area falls, admitted the anomaly. “Bamboo poles have been erected to support low-tension wires since we are running short of cement poles,” he said.
He, however, blamed local residents for the mess. “We know that using bamboo to support cables is an unsafe practice, but we are helpless. Residents press for connections. In the absence of cement poles, we have no option but to use bamboo ones,” he said.
The senior JSEB official maintained that they were hoping to solve the problem soon. “We have placed cement pole orders through our headquarters. The consignment is expected to arrive in a week. The poles will be erected in Kapali,” he said.
