Hyderabad: In a tragic incident, a 40-year-old English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) employee was electrocuted while on a morning walk at the GHMC park in Padmaraonagar, after coming into contact with a high-tension wire that had fallen on the walking track.
The deceased was identified as M. Pradeep, a resident of Bapujinagar of Parsigutta. Pradeep had left home at about 5 am on Friday, stating that he would come home early. When Pradeep did not return home, family members went to the park and were shocked to see him lying motionless.
Pradeep was a regular walker at the GHMC park, and he arrived early and started walking on the track, oblivious to the high-tension wires.
According to the Chilkalguda police, a live electric wire was damaged and fell on the ground as a result of the severe winds and rain on Thursday. Praveen stepped on the wire without noticing it and received an electric shock. The cable came from a transformer placed at a corner of the park.
"As Pradeep reached the electric transformers installed inside, he came in contact with the high-tension wire that fell on the ground. He suffered serious injuries and died on the spot," stated Chilkalguda inspector K. Nageswar.
Police officials arrived in the park after receiving information from morning walkers, discovered Pradeep dead, and shifted him to the Gandhi Hospital mortuary for a postmortem. The police registered a case of negligence. When Deccan Chronicle tried to contact the TSSPDCL officials, they did not respond.
Meanwhile, angry family members and BJP leaders protested outside the park's entrance after the tragedy, demanding that TSSPDCL officials be held accountable for installing transformers inside the park. They alleged that the TSSPDCL personnel were negligent in failing to recognise the problem early on and in failing to take the necessary action even after high-tension cables were damaged inside the park.
The GHMC and TSSPDCL officials acted irresponsibly by failing to inspect and remove any damaged high-tension wires inside the park. The young man was electrocuted to death as a result of the inaction of the authorities, said senior BJP leader Marri Sashidhar Reddy.
"Why did the GHMC staff allow high-tension wires inside the park, endangering the lives of morning walkers and visitors to the park? We found that children were playing close to the transformer, posing a grave threat to their lives,” he stated.
