The tragic death of a PDD lineman who died 11 days after falling from utility pole, once again exposes the dangers that these people are always facing while delivering their duties.
The family of the deceased now stands devastated, and as we have seen in earlier cases, such families have to finally fend for themselves. This is such a shocking aspect of our life in this part of the world.
It is not the first instance when a filed staffer, while doing duties, lost his life. Every now and then we hear of such accidents. For the time being we express shock, we condole the death, we talk about the problems faced by these people, and then life moves on, till there is another such accident.
In any responsible society, and in any answerable state, it would cause an uproar. Any such incident would entail an enquiry, and the responsible would get penalised.
But here, nothing moves. As if human life is dirt cheap. We are such an unfortunate society, that we have made a compromise with such things, and we consider such accidents as a given. It’s an apathy, rather criminality of high order.
As far as the concerned department, less said the better. It is a common site that linemen are atop these high electric poles fixing problems, and there are no safety gears. Just a misstep and the person can fall down and lose his life. Just a small mistake and the person can get an electric shock and with that an end to his life.
These harrowing stories are not infrequent. But nothing happens because no high profile person in involved in these accidents. Those in the highest positions in this department should think of themselves and their own families, and feel the guilt.
The filed staff should have been provided with full security gear, and the means of going up the pole should not have been these simple ladders. To save these people from falling to death, or getting a electric shock, should be the first priority for this department. Also, in case an accident still happens, it must be the responsibility of the department to take care of the families.