ZIRO, 20 Apr: One Chiging Tado, a contingency staffer of the Ziro electrical division, reportedly died while another contingency staffer, Tage Tachang, suffered grievous injuries after being electrocuted while engaged in HT line maintenance work opposite TPD School here in Lower Subansiri district on 18 April, at around 2:15 pm.
Tado was reportedly declared brought dead on transit to the Gyati Takka General Hospital in Hapoli.
On Thursday, late Tado’s wife, Chiging Konya, accused the power department of “sheer negligence and apathy,” and lodged and FIR at the police station here against the department, seeking proper and fair investigation into the incident.
In her FIR, Chiging Konya stated, “Upon primary retrospection, the whole incident appears to have occurred out of sheer negligence and apathy of the department concerned and arises the following question: Why was the staff engaged in the maintenance works not supplied with protection gears like rubber gloves, shoes, shock proof jackets, etc, and thus putting their lives at risk? It appears that the 11 KV & 33 KV HT lines were strung in close proximity and standard procedure was not adhered to, which may have created strong electromagnetic field around. The actual cause of death needs to be ascertained. Was it due to the electromagnetic field generated by the 33 KV live wire which the power department forgot to shut down, or did the switcher turn on the 11 KV transmission wire amidst the maintenance work?
“In the light of above, it is evident that this is a case of institutional murder arising out of complete negligence and apathy of the department concerned,” the FIR read.
The Ziro PS OC informed that a case under Sections 285, 338 and 304 (A) of the IPC has been registered in this regard and investigation is on.
