Three North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) employees, including a contractual worker, died in the line of duty when a huge tree fell on them in Assam’s Dima Hasao district on Saturday morning.
The incident occurred when the victims were on their way to close the gate of a tunnel that got flooded because of a breach in the protection bund of the Khandong hydro power station in Dima Hasao district.
Annual maintenance work was under way at the tunnel when the water level of the Kopili river rose suddenly and breached the protection bund because of heavy rain upstream in neighbouring Meghalaya for the past two days.
Those working in the tunnel got out in time before water entered the tunnel and somebody from them informed their colleagues about the breach.
After the trio came to know about the breach, they left for gate no 2 of the tunnel, about 2.9km away from the first gate where maintenance work was under way.
“Unfortunately a huge tree fell on them because of strong winds and they passed away soon after. They died in the line of duty... were on their way to close the gate. It is a very sad day for us,” NEEPCO CMD V.K. Singh told The Telegraph.
The two NEEPCO officials have been identified as Jayanta Hazarika, senior manager (civil), and Anupam Saikia, deputy manager (civil). Hazarika, 59, was from Digboi of Tinsukia district, while 33-year-old Saikia belonged to Jorhat of Jorhat district. The contractual worker Demiraj Johry, aged about 26, was from Dima Hasao district.
The NEEPCO had lost four of its people in October 2019 due to a pipeline burst of the Kopili hydro power project in Dima Hasao district but about 35km from the Khandong project.
Singh said: “There was no pipe burst or dam burst. I was at the site on Friday. We were supposed to close the gate at 12 noon today but the water rose suddenly around 10.30am. Luckily those inside the tunnel managed to get out but we lost three other employees at a different location.”
He said: “The rainy season starts around April 15, but the water level rose suddenly due to rain in Meghalaya. There was no production because of the maintenance work. We are presently trying to channelise the excess water to prevent further damage. Power station is flooded but there was no damage to civilian life or property.”
A district disaster management official said a state disaster response force team was rushed to the affected power station area and they will also carry out a drone survey to assess the damage and need for rescue or relief operations.
He also said rain-triggered landslides occurred in around 23 places and two houses were also washed away in Maibong, about 170km from Khandong via district headqurters Haflong. It was windy through the day and traffic was disrupted in several places.
