Mayor Firhad Hakim on Tuesday said he had asked the civic body’s lighting department to inspect street poles and fix any issues they may come across.
Hakim told The Telegraph that he would go on an inspection after two or three days to see if the poles had any loose wires hanging from them.
An 11-year-old boy died after he touched a live pole in a flooded lane in Haridevpur on Sunday. The KMC has requested the state power department to find out how the pole became live and submit a report. Hakim said the report is expected within two or three days.
In the last few years, several people had been electrocuted in Kolkata after touching poles that had lose wires hanging from them.
A 25-year-old engineer had died in May 2021 after he apparently came in contact with a lamp post outside the office of the Registrar of Assurances in the BBD Bag area of central Kolkata.
In August 2016, a 14-year-old student returning home from tuition had died after touching a lamp post while wading through a waterlogged road in south Kolkata’s Bhowanipore.
Cyclone Amphan had caused 19 electrocution deaths in the city in 2020.
Two 12-year-old girls who were returning from tuition through a waterlogged street in Dum Dum in September last year were electrocuted when one of them accidentally came in contact with an iron post. The other girl died after she rushed to her friend’s rescue.
Action was promised after all these deaths but hardly anything changed on the ground.
“I have asked the electrical department to check the lamp posts and fix any issues they may come across. I will go on an inspection after two or three days,” Hakim said on Tuesday afternoon.
“We have requested the state power department to probe Saturday’s incident. We are expecting to get the report within two or three days,” Hakim added.
An engineer of the KMC’s electrical department said they had been asked by senior officials to weld or cover with industrial tape all flaps on the poles that are within the reach of a human being.
Besides, the KMC has also decided to switch off all trident lights whenever it rains during the monsoon, said the engineer.
On Tuesday, Sandip Bakshi, mayoral council member in charge of the KMC’s electrical department, inspected some of the roadside poles in the BBD Bag area and CIT Road.
“I found a mesh of cables on some of the poles. The cables almost bent the poles. In one place I found the wires hanging and there was no cover. I have asked engineers to fix them immediately,” Bakshi said. “I urge all councillors to inform the electrical department if they see anything wrong with a pole.”
In New Town and Sector V, engineers went around looking for naked wires and cables sticking out of street lights as well as street furniture that have lighting systems.
