E-Paper
Ludhiana: On-duty PSPCL man electrocuted, severely hurt
According to officials, the worker, who has been identified as Harmanpreet Singh, was responding to a service call on Wednesday morning when he came in contact with a live wire and sustained severe burn injuries
A 26-year-old outsourced PSPCL worker has suffered serious injuries after being electrocuted while working on low-tension electricity lines in the Civil Lines area, officials familiar with the matter said. According to officials, “The worker, who has been identified as Harmanpreet Singh, was responding to a service call on Wednesday morning when he came in contact with a live wire and sustained severe burn injuries.”
Gurmanpreet Singh, executive engineer (XEN), PSPCL’s Fountain Chowk division, said, “The worker is an outsourced CHB employee hired through Sandha and Company. Around 8 am on Wednesday, he was addressing a complaint registered on the helpline 1912. The supply from the grid had been suspended due to the ongoing maintenance. However, an unknown resident’s generator was operational at the time, supplying power to the electricity lines. This backfeed led to the mishap.”
He added that the worker is undergoing treatment at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMC), and the department has written to the outsourcing firm to provide full medical support. “We have also instructed the agency to ensure that no technical staff is deployed without proper safety gear,” he said.
Raising concerns over recurring workplace accidents, Avtar Singh, a member of the Powercom and Transco Contractual Workers Union, said, “The higher-ups urge us to attend to faults on low-tension lines but do not provide adequate safety equipment. Most accidents occur due to a severe shortage of protective gear, such as insulated boots, earthing sticks, proper ladders and safety harnesses.”
According to official data, Ludhiana has recorded 38 electrocution-related incidents, including 17 fatalities, in the past two years, most of them attributed to the lack of standard safety measures. Despite the alarming figures, no significant improvement or preventive action has been taken so far, union members noted.
A senior PSPCL official unveiled that no police complaint has been registered in connection with the incident so far, which is generally a procedural requirement in such cases. “The department has yet to identify the source of the generator supply or the person responsible for its operation, leading to delays,” the official added.
