Mangaluru, Aug 21: A senior lineman was electrocuted to death and his colleague suffered critical injuries while they were working atop an electric pole near AB Shetty Circle in the heart of the city of Mangaluru on Friday.
The victim has been identified as Alexander Pias (50), a resident of Derebail. His colleague Narayan (42), a resident of Subramanya, is recovering at a hospital.
According to the Mangalore Electricity Supply Company officials, there was a complaint from the office of the Police Commissioner about low voltage power supply around 2 p.m. Alexander Pias and Narayan from the Maidan office of MESCOM were deputed to attend to the problem.
The MESCOM official said the two experienced linemen switched off the power supply from the 11 kV line and proceeded to the electricity pole that links the power line leading to the office of the Police Commissioner.
Mr Pias and Mr Narayan both climbed the pole. A few minutes into the repair, the two were thrown off the pole.
Both of them were immediately moved to a private hospital in Attavar. But, Mr. Pias succumbed to his injuries in the evening. Mr. Narayan is recovering, the MESCOM official said. Though the official suspected the incident to have resulted from back current from a diesel generator, he said an inquiry was on to find the exact reason.
Officials from the Electrical Inspectorate are independently inquiring into the incident.
The official said MESCOM has made linemen aware of safety norms that need to be followed during repair of power lines. Linemen have been given a safety kit that includes gloves and helmet. “We are yet to find whether these linemen had used helmet and gloves,” the official said.
The two linemen were permanent employees of MESCOM and have put in nearly two decades in the company. The Mangaluru South police said Mr. Pias was a resident of Barebail near Bejai while Mr. Narayan was resident of MESCOM quarters in Kavoor. The process of registering the complaint is on, the police said.
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