Kendrapara, March 25: Two plumbers were electrocuted and another seriously injured when 22-foot pipeline of a tube well they were repairing came in contact with a live wire at Bandhapada village of Gangua panchayat in the district this morning.

The deceased persons have been identified as Bhimsen Pradhan, 52, and Harish Rout, 48, both from Rajnagar area of the district. Both of the plumbers died on the spot, while Ganesh Patra suffered severe injuries after coming in contact with the high-tension live wire.

The injured person was rushed to the district headquarters hospital, where his condition was last reported to be stable.

“The tube well installed at the village school had turned defunct. The Rural Water Sanitation Scheme was undertaking the repair of the dysfunctional tube well by entrusting the work to a local contractor. The mishap took place when the workers were trying to extract the objects fitted underground,” said inspector of Mahakalpada police station Padarabinda Tripathy.

“The police are investigating into the incident. A case has been registered in this connection,” he said.

The Rural Water Sanitation Scheme has been directed to ensure safety measures for plumbers engaged in tube well digging work.

They have been asked to make on the spot supervision of work so that incident of this nature does not recur,” said Kendrapara collector Ratnakar Rout.

With the rise in mercury level, people in various parts of the district are reeling from drinking water shortage. This is mainly because of a drop in ground water level.

However, the district collector added that steps were being taken to reactivate more than 100 tube wells that had turned defunct.