G S Asgotra
Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 9: The famous quote of Charles Chaplin "Nothing permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles", explains well the plight of thousands of Linemen, daily wagers of Power Development Department (PDD), who still work on high power transmission lines, endangering their lives in the absence of safety equipment. The new PDD Minister, Dr. Nirmal Singh has failed to release even a single penny for purchase of equipments, jeopardizing the lives of gullible linemen.
Source informed Early Times that during onset of every monsoon season, the department provided fresh safety kits to linemen of every divisions- including helmets, gloves, shoes, torch, umbrella, stair and insulator road, but astonishingly for the last three consecutively years, the department concerned has failed to provide such instruments, causing deaths and burn injuries.
The linemen alleged that lack of accountability prevailing within department could be gauged from this fact that the former Chief Engineer, Shahnaz Goni had released Rs 50,000 to seventeen divisions of Jammu province for purchasing safety apparatus but due to lackadaisical approach of Executive Engineer concerned, not even a single division had provided the safety gear to its linemen. "Owing to lack of safety equipments, every day the linemen have suffered electric shock and Executive Engineers concerned instead of providing apparatus, have been forcing the linemen to work on transmission and distribution lines without safety equipments", he said.
Linemen Union leader Girdhari Lal Bhagat said that in peak humid and scorching heat, on one hand the executive engineers have been forcing the linemen to work round the clock and restore the power supply, but in return, they have failed to provide safety equipments to naïve linemen due to which, so far more than 200 linesmen have died of electric shock in Jammu province.Pointing towards unprofessional approach of PDD, he further said most of the aggrieved families of deceased linesmen, have been still deprived of ex-gratia relief.Chief Engineer of PDD, Ajay Gupta said that the government has not released a penny for safety equipments so far, adding, "Until the government releases funds for safety equipment, I am incapable to release funds to concerned divisions for purchase of equipments", he added.He further said that it would be pertinent if you asked the government, about released funds for safety equipments. |
