Electric pole falls off; no casualties

• Incident occurred while digging earth with a machine for UGD works at Gowrishankar Nagar in city
• Lack of precautionary and safety measures reasoned

Mysuru: An electric pole fell while digging earth for underground drainage (UGD) works, using an earth moving machine at Gowrishankar Nagar in the city yesterday. Fortunately, neither any casualties nor any damage to houses located nearby was reported in the incident.

The incident occurred on fourth main, fourth cross of the residential area located at the foot of Chamundi Hill at about 10.30 am. The concrete pole tilted and fell off, with the mound of mud removed and dumped on the roadside, coming in handy in holding a portion of the pole from surface till half, preventing what could have led to a major mishap, in the case of any electrocution or short circuit. No safety measures had been taken during the execution of works, as the whole incident was captured on a CCTV camera installed at a house located nearby.

By evening, the pole was restored, but some of the households had to face disruption in power supply for some time.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, electrical contractor Nagaraj said, during such works, precautionary measures are mandatory. It is due to negligence of those involved in executing the works, did the incident occur. Fortunately, no untoward incidents were reported.

BJP leader Cable Mahesh said, the incident occurred during upgradation of UGD network. While digging the earth, leakage was noticed from UGD line and the sewage water that accumulated loosened the soil around the bottom of the pole, thus weakening the foundation, resulting in its fall.

This calls for inter-department coordination by preparing an action plan before taking up any such works.