Berhampur: Odisha Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera has blamed Southern Electricity Supply Company (Southco) and the bus driver for the electrocution tragedy, which claimed the lives of 10 people in Ganjam district on Sunday.
The Transport Minister said, the mishap occurred due to two main reasons- firstly, the 11 KV wires were lying very low and the concerned electricity officials of the Southco were responsible for the same; secondly, careless driving of the driver.
The bus driver could avoid the mishap if he would have been alert while driving the 12ft high vehicle, the Minister added.
The tragedy occurred on Sunday afternoon when the private bus carrying around 40 people for a marriage engagement ceremony at Chikarada came in contact with 11 KV power transmission line at Mandarajpur under Golanthara police station limits in Ganjam district.
The Transport Minister along with Science and Technology Minister Ashok Panda and MLA Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi visited Dankalpadu village last night. They met the families of the deceased and injured in the village and assured all assistance by the State Government.
On Monday, the State government suspended four engineers of two departments in connection to the electrocution mishap.
The four engineers – two of them from the energy department and another two from the rural development department were charged with dereliction of duty.
The bus driver, identified as Gagan Bihari Jena, was also arrested and forwarded to the court. He allegedly jumped from the bus and fled the site soon after the incident.
Kalinga AI