Tangedco worker, government pleader electrocuted

CHENNAI: Tangedco has agreed not to engage unskilled gangmen category workers in the electrical works after CITU's Central Organisation of Tamil Nadu Electricity Employees (COTEE) protested with the body of a 32-year-old worker electrocution on Wednesday.

Jagadish, who works as a gangman in Tangedco, was killed at Nanganallur while attending to a jumper cut on a transformer. Jagadish was the 48th gangman to be killed in the last two years.

Members of the COTEE union took the body of Jagadish to the Superintendent Engineer's office in KK Nagar and demanded justice for the worker's death.

The protest lasted till evening and the workers dispersed after taking an undertaking in writing from officials that gangmen should not be engaged to work on live cables.

In the peace meeting conducted with the union in the presence of Tangedco's Kancheepuram Region chief engineer, SE Chennai I signed a written undertaking stating that they would not engage the gangman workers in the live wire work and henceforth they would be used only for non-electrical work.

COTEE president Jaisankar said that gangman are unskilled labourers and were recruited to help erect poles and lay cables before electrification. "Due to a shortage of field workers like helpers and wiremen, gangmen were engaged in the live wire works in substations, fuse off call and maintenance works leading to electrocution deaths. In the last two years, 48 gangman workers were killed while attending to work, " he said.

Tangedco officials have also agreed to discuss with the board to allot a job for Jagadish's family members on compassionate grounds within a month apart from an additional compensation of Rs 25 lakh, Jaishankar said.

Government pleader electrocuted at Korattur

Advocate Sampath Kumar, 55, a resident of Korattur was electrocuted while taking shelter under a metal shed of a company from rain on Wednesday morning.

In a press note, Tangedco said that Sampath Kumar took shelter in a metal shed of Shri Durga Industries from rain during the morning walk. Due to heavy rain, the wall on which the meter board of the company is fixed got completely wet in the rain and electricity leaked into the metal shed leading to the electrocution of Sampath Kumar. "The investigation at the accident site revealed an electricity leak from the company, " it added.