Ananthapur: In a tragic incident, four women farm labourers were electrocuted and three more were seriously injured after a live wire fell on a tractor. The mishap happened while they were filling harvested maize in a tractor at an agriculture field in Dargah Honnur village in Bommanahal mandal on Wednesday.
Labourers, mostly women, were engaged in the harvesting of maize at an agriculture field. Soon after completion of the process, the labourers dumped the produce into a tractor. The workers were about to return to their homes. All of a sudden, the 11 KV live wire fell on the tractor. A similar incident had occurred in Tadimarri mandal a few months ago, when the line fell on an auto rickshaw.
Four women labourers were electrocuted and they died instantly. The deceased were D Parvathi, K Shankaramma, V Vanamma and Rathnamma. Eyewitnesses to the incident immediately alerted the sub-station. Those with burn injuries were shifted to a hospital in Bellary in Karnataka.
Poor maintenance of the lines by the electricity department is cited as the cause of the mishap.
Notably, five farm labourers were charred to death in Tadimarri mandal a few months ago after a 33 KV live wire fell on an auto rickshaw. The electricity department claimed that a squirrel caused the falling of the live wire. Poor maintenance of both the 33 and 11 KV lines is a cause of concern to the people.
APSPDCL CMD Santhosh Rao ordered suspension of Kalayandurg DEE Mallikarjuna Rao, Bommanhal AEE Lakshmi Reddy, AEE (Protection) Hamidulla Baig and Dargah Honnur lineman Basava Raj. He sought explanations from Anantapur SE Nagaraj, Rayadurgam EE (operation) Seshadri Sekhar and EE (M&P Anantapur) K Ramesh.
A committee was formed under the head of Manager (P&M) DV Chalapathi with CGM (O&M) Guravaiah and vigilance inspector Vijayabhaskar Reddy to submit a report.
The company had announced a Rs 5 lakh as ex-gratia to the families of each of the deceased. Chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed shock over the mishap. Rayadurgam MLA Kapu Ramachandra said the chief minister announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased and ordered quality medical treatment to the injured.
Anantapur SP Fakeerappa rushed to the spot and initiated necessary formalities including post mortem of the deceased. He contacted the Bellary hospital to check on the medical aid for the injured.
TD politburo member Kalva Srinivasulu sought a payment of Rs 25 lakh as ex-gratia to each affected family and action against the guilty.
