A CESC team on Friday went to Botanic Garden Lane, in Shibpur, to trim branches that had entangled in electricity wires or been touching lamp posts, a day after two men were electrocuted after accidentally touching a post in the lane.
Residents rued that Suman Sharma and Srikanta Das, who were on their way home through a flooded Botanic Garden Lane when they met with the accident, could have been still alive had the branches been trimmed on Thursday.
They alleged that a CESC team had inspected the spot on Thursday morning following a complaint of a loud sound from a lamp post and declared that the post was safe. The team from the power utility allegedly left the spot telling people that some branches needed to be trimmed.
However, no one arrived to trim the branches. Seven hours later, the two men in their 30s were electrocuted after touching the same lamp post.
On Thursday, CESC officials had told The Telegraph that the incident of electrocution was “not related to tree trimming” and that an investigation had been started to ascertain the cause of the incident.
On Friday, none of the CESC officials commented on the investigation.
The utility during the day came out with a “monsoon safety guideline”, whose first point urged people to avoid coming in close proximity with electrical poles, stray wires, distribution boxes and kiosks during rain.
People have also been warned against touching electrical switches with wet hands and using mobile phones when they are being charged.
Residents of Botanic Garden Lane said the two men possibly could not have averted coming in contact with the lamp post as the entire lane was waterlogged.
“A drain on the other side of the lane was overflowing. The entire lane was flooded. Only a small patch around the lamp post was dry as it was situated on a higher level. The men had stepped on the dry patch and came in contact with the lamp post,” said Sarada Pasi, who lives in a house in front of the spot where the fatal accident happened.
On Friday, when two CESC men wearing gum boots and helmets appeared with a ladder, some residents complained how this act, if done 24 hours before, could have saved two lives.
“They trimmed most of the branches that fell on the electrical wires. I wish this work were done yesterday,” one of them said.
Power supply to the lamp posts in the lane was cut off on Thursday night. Residents said supply had not been restored on Friday.
The Howrah City Police said they had started an unnatural death case but no “specific case” was initiated in the absence of a formal complaint from the families of the deceased.