Chennai saw two electrocution deaths over a span of two days within the one week. While 42-year old Sethuraj from Chitlapakkam lost his life on Thursday after an electric pole came crashing down on him, 15-year-old Dheena Senthil suffered a fatal shock on Monday after coming in contact with an exposed live wire in Mugalivakkam.
Both deaths expose the civic apathy of authorities; in this case, the Greater Chennai Corporation and the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB).
And while several enraged residents and the media questioned these authorities on the deaths, neither have taken responsibility for the accidents and instead, are engaging in a blame game to wash their hands of the incident.
‘It’s their fault, not our’s’
On Wednesday, a day after Sethuraj died, electricity minister P Thangamani held a press conference with the sole agenda of passing the buck to the Chennai Corporation.
“It was not TNEB’s fault,” the minister stated before blaming the Chennai corporation for Dheena’s demise and a random truck for Sethuraj’s. According to the minister, the electric post on Kalyana Sundaram Street in Chitlapakkam had fallen on Sethuraj after a truck had hit a tree, which caused the branch to fall on the post and destabilising it. The minister even displayed a CCTV footage to prove TNEB’s innocence.
However, residents on Chitlapakkam, on seeing the CCTV footage, have challenged the minister’s arguments, stating that the footage was not from the locality and did not show Sethuraj.
“The roads here are much narrower than the locality shown in the CCTV visual in this area of Chitlapakkam. While the visual shows a truck hitting a tree and a man walking nearby, trucks cannot easily move through the street here where the accident took place,” Salesh, a resident and member of local NGO Chitlapakkam Rising told TNM.
A survey by Chitlapakkam Rising, after Sethuraj’s death, helped identify at least 60 electric posts that were faulty in the locality. The electric post near Sethuraj’s house, too, had been faulty, with its metal core entirely corroded.
Meanwhile, on the demise of Dheena Senthil, the class 9 boy who was electrocuted after stepping on a live wire, the electricity minister stated that it was the Greater Chennai corporation’s fault, yet again.
Dheena had come in contact with an exposed live wire, which had not been properly isolated and buried. The corporation workers who had dug up the road to lay cables and drainage pipes had temporarily buried the live wire under a mound of mud as the works hadn’t been completed. With a few days of rains, the mound of mud turned to a puddle, exposing the wire underneath.
Responding to electricity minister Thangamani’s accusation, Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash said that the GCC was not responsible for the death of the 15-year-old.
According to local channels, Prakash added that investigations in the death of Dheena were ongoing and it was not the Corporation workers who had caused the accident. Prakash also said that if the Corporation was found to have a role in Dheena’s death, action against the erring workers would definitely be taken.
Meanwhile, the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), too, has been accused for the Dheena's death in Mugalivakkam, with the digging work in the area being done by them. However, investigations in the case are yet to be completed.
Is state government responsible then?
Even as the civic body officials attempt to pass the buck on both the electrocution deaths, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy announced a solatium of Rs 3 lakh for each family who lost a loved one due to the mishap, perhaps indicating that the state government acknowledged its role in the avoidable deaths.
However, the ruling AIADMK government is yet to announce any solatium for the family of Subhasri, the 23-year-old Chennai techie who lost her life to an unauthorised banner last week, after she fell from her bike as the banner collapsed on her and got run over by a lorry.
The banner was placed by AIADMK functionary and ex-councillor S Jayagopal who is absconding at present. The incident led to much outcry against the culture of erecting illegal banners and cut-outs popular in the state.