Two brothers were electrocuted and their nephew was critically injured on Friday while trying to rescue them after they came into contact with a live electric wire connected to a transformer in Dhantori village of Kurukshetra’s Shahbad sub-division, police said.
According to the police, Binder Ram, 50, accidentally touched a live wire connected to a transformer while removing an iron cot from the balcony of his house.
According to Shahbad SHO Jagdish Tamak, the family had covered the wire with a plastic pipe, but rainwater is suspected to have caused leakage, energising the surrounding area.
On seeing his brother collapse, Nathi Ram, 59, rushed to rescue him but was also electrocuted after coming into contact with the live current, police said.
Nathi Ram’s son, Ladi, 35, then attempted to save the two, but also suffered an electric shock. The victims were rushed to a private hospital in Kurukshetra, where the brothers were declared dead, while Ladi was given treatment under critical condition.
Nathi Ram’s brother Somnath accused the power board of not shifting the high-tension lines despite reminders, forcing them to cover them with plastic pipes. An accidental death report has been registered, and the bodies were handed over to the family after postmortem examination, the SHO said.
{{/usCountry}}Nathi Ram’s brother Somnath accused the power board of not shifting the high-tension lines despite reminders, forcing them to cover them with plastic pipes. An accidental death report has been registered, and the bodies were handed over to the family after postmortem examination, the SHO said.
{{/usCountry}}Faridabad has emerged as Haryana’s wettest district since the monsoon arrived in the state on July 2, recording 141.4mm of rainfall until Friday.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD)’s special bulletin, Faridabad is the only district in the ‘large excess’ category, recording 61% more rainfall than normal.
According to the IMD, Palwal received 111.3mm rain (57% in excess), 144.1mm was recorded in Kurukshetra (51% in excess), 121.9mm in Mahendergarh (36% in excess) and Gurugram recorded 124.6mm rain (34% in excess).
Those in the ‘deficient’ category include Sirsa (-62%), Ambala (-56%), Rohtak (-47%), Jind (-44%), Panchkula (-32%), and Yamunanagar (-24%).
Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, is also in the ‘deficient’ category with a 20% deficit. However, the UT received the maximum rainfall of 180mm during this period, which also marked the highest 24-hour rainfall (from 8.31am on July 9 to 8.30am on July 10).
Yamunanagar registered 76.6mm rain, followed by Kurukshetra (74.6mm), Panchkula (66.4mm), Karnal (64.7mm) and Ambala (53.3mm). The IMD has issued a yellow alert for heavy rain for a few districts of north Haryana.
Rivers in spate
In neighbouring Ambala, water entered the colonies situated on the Tangri river bed and other low-lying areas in Ambala Cantonment. After an alert by the district administration, the residents shifted to safer places.
On the other hand, the Markanda seasonal river started flowing in Naraingarh amid heavy rain in its catchment areas. The river water suddenly entered fields, giving the farmers little time to leave; however, they were later rescued.
Local SDM Shivjeet Bharti said that seasonal rivers like Begna, Markanda and Roon are prone to heavy water flow during the rainy season and appealed to the people of the area to avoid going near rivers, drains and waterlogged areas.
In Yamunanagar, seasonal rivers like Som Nadi and Pathrala were also in spate, while the Yamuna at Hathnikund Barrage was flowing below the ‘mini-flood’ situation at around 50,000 cusecs.