Tangedco staff dies while attending to fault, fourth death in 10 days

A field assistant of Tangedco was electrocuted while he was attending maintenance work at Mathur on Saturday, making him the fourth person, including two Tangedco workers, to be electrocuted in the city in just 10 days.

By :  migrator
Update: 2019-09-21 21:08 GMT

Chennai

The victim, M Murugan (38), was attending to work in a power line at Mathur as part of the monthly maintenance power shutdown on Saturday. “He climbed the pole to work on the power line after the supply from the substation was switched off. But when he encountered the power line, he got electrocuted. We suspect that the power supply might be due to the reverse supply from the inverter or generators in a house or commercial building,” said a Tangedco official. The official noted that when the consumers use battery-backed inverter or generator at the times of power cut, the supply should not pass into the grid. 

The worker’s body which got entangled in the power pole was recovered by the Fire and Rescue Service personnel from Manali. The body was sent to the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital for post-mortem examination. The deceased is survived by his wife and two daughters. 

On September 11, Jeevanandham (48), a wireman, was electrocuted when he was attending to a fault on EB pillar at Tondiarpet. As he failed to use hand gloves, he came in contact with a live cable and was thrown away.  

Dheena, a 14-year-old, was electrocuted when he stepped on a live wire of Chennai Corporation submerged in a puddle of water on September 15. The next day, on September 16, Sethu Rajan (42), of Chitlapakkam stepped out of his house to feed stray dogs when an electrical pole collapsed on the street and a cable fell on him, electrocuting him.

Earn interest for advance, says cash-starved utility

Facing severe cash crunch, Tangedco has come up with an offer to pay interest to consumers who pay advance current consumption charges. The State-run power utility added that this would avert the risk of disconnection due to non-payment of the bi-monthly bill on time. 

Those making advance payment would earn an interest of 3.5 per cent, said a release from Tangedco, adding that if the consumer goes out of station and does not consume power, the amount paid would be automatically adjusted against future consumption.

The appeal comes in the in the wake of the chief financial controller’s letter to all the chief engineers of the distribution regions asking them to encourage the public for making advance payment facility. “Tangedco is facing financial crunch now. If it motivates consumers to make advance payment, it will be mutually beneficial to both the consumer and the distribution company,” the letter said. Meanwhile, the release from the utility added that low-tension electricity consumers, particularly residential and commercial establishments, have the option of making advance payment both through online and section counters.  

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