The numbers of fatal accidents have reduced among BESCOM linemen.
Bangalore, February 1, 2018: The number of fatal accidents involving linemen at the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM)has gone down due to the tightening of safety measures by the company.
In 2016-17, out of 270 accidents, 235 were fatal. Yet in 2017-18, the number of fatal accidents stood at 122 of a total 256 reported accidents.
Gopalakrishnan, Director General Manager (DGM) of BESCOM said, “there has been a decrease in the number of accidents while compared to what it was five years ago because we have made the safety procedures more stringent.”
He added, “we provide the lineman with all safety equipment but it’s them who are overconfident and fail to use them. We have been giving Rs. 5 lakh as compensation to the families of the victims of fatal accidents.”
Manjula K, the manager of Quality and Safety said they approve all the vendors who provide the safety equipment and supply them to the subdivision officers.
“We send circulars about the safety measures but most of the subdivision officers don’t even look at it,” added Manjula.
Yogesh, Assistant Executive Engineer of Jayanagar mentioned that there have been no deaths in his division as the linemen use the equipment wisely provided to them. “Most of the linemen use safety measures such as helmets and belts but there are situations when they are in a hurry and forget to use them,” said Yogesh.
Uday Kumar, Chief Executive Engineer (CEE) of BMAZ said, “Subdivision officers are supposed to look after the equipment, but then most of them don’t do it. We have taken action against some of the officers already.”
Sonu K, a resident of Jayanagar said, “Sometimes I have seen linemen using the light from their mobile phones instead of torches, they don’t even have good torches.”
Beerappa, the brother of a BESCOM lineman, Mahadeviyaa said that he is always worried when his brother on his duty. “I am always tense because I don’t know when something might happen to him,” he said.
Eshwarappa, Assistant Executive Engineer of Rajarajeshwari Nagar BESCOM said that 2017 saw a decrease in accidents while compared to 2016. He added that people have started calling 1912 (emergency contact number for Karnataka Electricity Board) for an electrical issue, and it gets resolved soon.
“Every time we get a call concerning the electrical issue, our lineman rushes there and does the needful. Our cars have safety equipment like ladders, insulators, etc.,” said Eshwarappa.
Chandan Yeshwanth, a resident of Nagarbhavi said, “In developed countries like Europe, electrical supply is integrated with water supply which is underground and the accident rates are less, so I think we need to follow it too.”
