Even as the West Bengal government and power utility company CESC are blaming each other for the death of at least nine persons from electrocution during Tuesday’s rain and flooding in Kolkata and its suburbs, unplanned lighting, open wires, and lack of maintenance are being attributed to the electrocution fatalities.
Town planners say that both the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the CESC (Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation Limited) can’t shrug off their responsibilities for the deaths.
According to renowned town planner Dipankar Sinha, the trend of installing “fancy lights” on the streets of Kolkata has increased the possibilities of open wires, and therefore, the chances of electrocution during rain.
“Apart from street lights, the tendency to install fancy lights has increased in the last few years. That increased the possibility of increased open wire on the streets. These fancy lights are also not maintained properly. So, to avoid such incidents, both the CESC and KMC (Kolkata Municipal Corporation) need to have proper coordination to avoid such incidents in the future,” Sinha told The Indian Express.
“In Kolkata, every day, unplanned lighting, open wires, multiple points, wire mesh are increasing. But nobody is taking care of that,” Sinha added.
Another town planner, Biman Banerjee, held both the KMC and CESC responsible for the deaths. “This is utter callousness of both the KMC and CESC. Both have light posts in the Kolkata corporation area,” he said.
According to him, lighting and electrical hoardings installed for the Durga Puja only accentuated the condition for electrocution deaths.
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“During the Pujas, a large number of hoardings are installed on all the major streets of Kolkata. The CESC is giving permission to Puja committees. But the question is whether they were properly monitored before giving permission. Was CESC being properly vigilant?” Banerjee said.
Meanwhile, Mayor-in-Council Tarak Singh said that it was not possible to guard every light post every day. “We have 50 lakh light posts across the Kolkata corporation area. It is not possible to depute a guard at every light post. People should be aware that during rainfall, they should avoid walking in the waterlogged areas,” the TMC leader said.
