Pole tragedy: Blame game begins

Hyderabad: Hours after the death of a retired bank employee, officials of the Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL) blamed the Cantonment Board for not maintaining the pole.

Cantonment Board officials meanwhile said that it was the duty of TSSPDCL to maintain electricity poles.

The blame game started because the fallen pole was erected for street light and not for domestic supply.

“The pole that fell at RTC Colony is a street light post which was erected by the Cantonment Board. They should be maintaining it. We are not at all connected with maintenance since it’s not a domestic line,” said Mr G. Parvatham, superintending engineer, North.

Blood stains on the street where B. Laxman Rao died.

Cantonment Board member J. Ramakrishna said that the Board only took care of the lights and not the poles. “Those poles were erected by the TSSPDCL, and they should be maintaining them. We only look after the lights on those posts and the Cantonment Board is not concerned with the maintenance of electric poles anywhere,” he said.

Meanwhile, several dilapidated poles across the city await replacement.

However, TSSPDCL officials said that they had been replacing such poles time to time though the least maintained poles were usually those of streetlights, which should be maintained by the GHMC or the Cantonment board.

“If the poles are for street lights and not for domestic supply, the GHMC or Cantonment Board (depending on under whose area they are situated) should maintain them. We are not responsible for those poles,” said Mr Pravatham.

Staff’s negligence suspected

The electric pole fell on the retired bank employee B. Laxman Rao after 11 am near the Kallu Compound at Road Number 1 at the RTC Colony.

“The victim was walking towards his home located in the same area. The cement pole suddenly fell on his head. He died on the spot,” said Trimulgherry sub inspector B. Srinu Naik.

Locals informed the police that Electricity Board employees, who were working at a nearby pole, fled as soon as the incident happened.

“We reached the spot as soon as we got information from the locals. However, the workers escaped from the area. We are still searching for them. There is a suspicion that the pole came down as they pulled the cable from the other end, but we need to confirm it,” said Mr Naik.

Laxman, who had retired from Andhra Bank as a senior official on September 30 this year, is survived by his wife, son and a daughter.

A police complaint was lodged by the victim’s brother, Mr B. Naresh Babu, who alleged that negligence by the Electricity Board had resulted in the accident and death.

“We will be taking a few people in custody for interrogation after preliminary interrogation. We are finding out who is the responsible officer from the Board,” said an official from the Trimulgherry police station.

The body of the deceased was handed over to the family after post-mortem at the Gandhi Hospital mortuary.

Family to approach court

Sixty-year-old B. Laxman Rao had retired just four days back and was looking forward to a leisurely retirement.

His wife Ms Sunitha (54) and he had been planning to visit Australia to live with their son for a few months. They had also planned to go to Kottayam in Kerala, where their daughter lives with her husband.

“Their plan was to visit their son in January. Since different festivals were going on, they decided to wait,” Mr Babu added. The family is in shock following the bizarre accident.

Rao’s son, M. B.J. Kalyan, who is an architect in Australia, will be flying to Hyderabad on Tuesday for the last rights; his daughter was also supposed to reach soon. Family members have asked for strict action against those responsible for the mishap.

“That pole had been tilting for months now, and no steps were taken to replace it. Neither did they put up a warning board,” said Sandeep, Rao’s nephew.