The death of a young man on a waterlogged Bhowanipore road on Friday night has again shown how grave the problem of unregulated and unmonitored electrical connections is in this city.
A glow sign board on the metal fencing of a multi-storeyed building on Justice Dwarkanath Road is suspected to have caused the electrocution.
Lack of inspection to check if standard operating procedures have been followed while installing private lights is another area of concern.
Over the past few years, electrocution has emerged as the biggest killer when the city encounters heavy rain and storm. (See chart)
Open wires were found jutting out of the fencing of the building on Justice Dwarkanath Road on Saturday.
A CESC team visited the site and inspected the spot.
Asked if the CESC was responsible for carrying out checks on all wires and connections, an official of the power utility said: “How can CESC know what is happening inside a private premises?”
“We have made a few observations. We will submit a detailed report to police,” he said.
Sourav Prasad Gupta, 25, was wading through the waterlogged Justice Dwarkanath Road on Friday evening when he took the support of the iron fencing around a building and collapsed in the water. He was taken to Sambhunath Pandit Hospital where he was declared dead.
Gupta’s father and brother came to Calcutta from their hometown in Bihar on Saturday. His body underwent post-mortem at SSKM Hospital and was handed over to the family for the last rites.
The family has lodged a complaint of negligence.
Many in the neighbourhood complained that Gupta was struggling in the water for around 20 minutes and despite requests to the shop owners on the ground floor of the building, the main switch was not turned off. “All the shop owners brought their shutters down and escaped through back doors. The security guard claimed he did not know where the main switch was,” a neighbour said.
The police said they would consider the report of the CESC and also examine the neighbours and eyewitnesses to ascertain the alleged negligence.
A senior official of the power department said there are a few norms that one should follow before installing any electrical connection by drawing a line from an electrical meter.
“The most important thing is to ensure that the wire used for the connection should not have multiple joints. The more joints you have, the more vulnerable the system becomes,” said the official.
Even in the case of joints, the insulation should be proper, he said.
CESC officials had on Friday said power to illuminate the glow sign board was drawn in an unauthorised manner from an electric meter registered in the name of a company.
The building, Justice Court, has two floors of commercial establishments and residential apartments on the higher floors.
The police have drawn up charges of causing death due to negligence and common intention against those whohad installed the glow sign board.
Officials of the electrical department of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation have submitted a declarationto the police saying the electrocution was not related to any light installed by thecivic body.
“The electrical department of the KMC has written to the police saying that the electrocution had nothing to do with the KMC lights. The tridents are located on the opposite footpath and the power connection of the lamp posts had been turned off because of the rain. The KMC has requested the police to investigate the exact cause and source of the electrocution,” said local Trinamool councillor Ashim Basu.
The city has many such advertising boards and decorative lights and who owns them or is responsible for them is not clear.