KSEB lineman electrocuted after crew isolated wrong transformer before repair in Kasaragod

Kanhangad: A Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) lineman was electrocuted while attending to a snapped service wire in Madikai panchayat on Friday morning after his team allegedly isolated the wrong transformer before beginning the repair work.

The deceased has been identified as V V Bharathan (52), a senior lineman with the KSEB's Mavungal Section and a resident of Vannarvayal at Madhurampady in Pullur-Periya panchayat.

The accident occurred around 10 am near Kanichira bridge, where Bharathan and his team had gone to rectify a complaint regarding a snapped service wire connected to a residential house.

Kanhangad Executive Engineer Asha T P, who also holds additional charge as Deputy Chief Engineer of KSEB's Kasaragod Circle, said an inquiry had been ordered and that appropriate action would be taken based on its findings.

According to a preliminary inquiry report by KSEB's Chief Safety Officer, the crew mistakenly removed the fuses of the Kanichira transformer instead of the Kalichampathi transformer that supplied power to the snapped cable. Believing the line had been switched off, Bharathan climbed the electricity pole and came into contact with a snapped service wire hanging from the top of the pole, said the report. The wire was still live, and he was electrocuted.

The report, accessed by Onmanorama, said the accident occurred because the crew isolated the wrong transformer before the maintenance work began. Two other senior officials corroborated the report submitted by the chief safety officer, who is an assistant executive engineer. They said Bharathan came into contact with the snapped live wire before he could reach the top of the pole and install the shorting clip, a safety device that prevents a line from accidentally becoming live again while maintenance work is in progress.

The electric shock threw Bharathan off balance. As he was secured to the pole with a rope around his waist, he remained suspended instead of falling to the ground. He is believed to have died instantly.

Officers from the Kanhangad Fire Station later brought down the body and shifted it to the District Hospital for autopsy. A rescue official who was part of the operation said the electric current had caused extensive burns. "The shock was so severe that even his soles had turned black," a rescue official said.

Bharathan is survived by his wife, Sreeja, and two daughters. His elder daughter recently completed Class XII, while the younger one is studying in Class VIII.