Schoolchildren had a close shave on Thursday when a tubular power pole with a high-tension live

wire toppled on Birsanagar-Telco Road in Zone No. 3 under Birsanagar police station, but narrowly missed vehicles carrying students to schools.

Pool cars with students of Vidya Bharti Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Shiksha Neketan and Little Flower pass through that stretch every day.

The pole near the Hero showroom, which had gathered rust and become frail, broke and fell on the ground along with the live wire around 6.30am, triggering panic among commuters.

The pool car drivers had no option other than taking alternative routes.

The pole was meant to carry an 11,000KV line.

Soon after the incident, officer in-charge of Birsanagar police station Sunil Kushwaha reached the spot and barricaded the area around it.

A team from Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam limited (JBVNL) also reached the spot a few minutes later.

JBVNL sub-divisional officer (electrical) R.B. Mahto said: “The tubular pole, which had gathered rust at the base, broke and fell, disrupting power supply in the area for two hours. We have restored power supply after connecting the power line to another pole nearly.”

Mahto said tubular poles were being used in large numbers for drawing 11,000KV and 33,000 KV power lines.

Sudhanshu Kumar, superintending engineer of Jamshedpur circle of JBVNL, under whose jurisdiction Birsanagar falls, said they had already ordered an enquiry into the incident.

“We have asked the Birsanagar SDO (electrical) to find out the reason behind the toppling of the high-tension line,” Kumar told The Telegraph.

The Telegraph had earlier highlighted JBVNL’s move to use tubular poles in place of rail poles for high-tension lines in urban and rural areas of the Singhbhum command area.

A JBVNL official said: “Tubular poles are hollow and usually get damaged within five to six years.

But JBVNL continues to use them because they are much cheaper than rail poles that last for over 50 years at a stretch.”