Man on bike electrocuted after HT cable fell on him in Perumbakkam

CHENNAI: Residents of Perumbakkam on Monday protested against Tangedco after a 40-year-old riding a scooter got electrocuted coming in contact with a snapped conductor.

Mohammad Ismail (40) belongs to Netaji Colony at Perumbakkam was returning on his scooter after dropping his kids at the school on Monday morning when the freak accident happened.

Two high-tension conductors snapped and fell on Ismail who was returning to his home on Netaji Nagar Main Road and another on a dog. Ansari, a local resident, said that they protested against the electrocution as the incident of conductor snapping happened frequently in the area.

The protestors refused to allow the body of Ismail to be taken for postmortem. "We sought action against the Tangedco officials for the electrocution incident," he said.

The protest which lasted for over four hours ended only after the assistant commissioner of police, Pallikaranai held talks.

"They agreed to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the victim's family and allocate a house at Perumbakkam tenements," Ansari said.

S Govindan, president, Innayum Kaigal AB Block Tenement Resident's Welfare Association at Perumbakkam said that since 2022, Ismail was the third person to be electrocuted due to overhead power lines.

"Recently two buffaloes were electrocuted," he said. He said that his association has been urging the Tangedco to take steps to convert the overhead cables into underground ones to avoid such electrocution incidents.

A Tangedco official said that the electrocution was an unfortunate incident. "When the supply end of the HT line touches the ground, it will instantly trip at the substation. But unfortunately, the supply end of the HT line fell on Ismail and electrocuted him. If the HT line touched the ground first and then on Ismail, he would not have been electrocuted," the official added.