Traffic police order inspection of signals after pole collapse injures two

A day after a 13-year-old boy and a 50-year-old man were injured when a traffic signal pole fell on them near Connaught Place, the Delhi traffic police on Wednesday said they had issued a notice to the private agency responsible for maintaining traffic signals across the city

A day after a 13-year-old boy and a 50-year-old man were injured when a traffic signal pole fell on them near Connaught Place, the Delhi traffic police on Wednesday said they had issued a notice to the private agency responsible for maintaining traffic signals across the city.

The incident took place on Tuesday night when an auto-rickshaw carrying a family and a two-wheeler were struck by the falling pole. Police said both the boy and the 50-year-old man suffered head injuries. (HT Archive)

Delhi Police have also registered an FIR against unknown persons for allegedly committing a negligent act endangering human life or personal safety.

The incident took place on Tuesday night when an auto-rickshaw carrying a family and a two-wheeler were struck by the falling pole. Police said both the boy and the 50-year-old man suffered head injuries.

According to police, a call about the incident was received around 9.30pm from the Outer Circle of Connaught Place near Minto Bridge. The injured man, identified as Sunil Singh, 50, was taken to BL Kapoor Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment. His family said on Wednesday that he was stable but declined to comment further.

The boy’s father, who declined to be identified, said the family was visiting Delhi from Ayodhya.

Police said the boy was travelling in the auto with his parents and younger sister, while Singh was riding a two-wheeler.

An FIR has been registered at Connaught Place police station under Section 125(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which pertains to rash or negligent acts endangering human life or personal safety, police said.

A senior police officer said investigators were probing how the pole collapsed and had recorded statements of the injured. The FIR was registered on the complaint of auto-rickshaw driver Bhutpal Singh.

“I had picked up a family of four and was taking them to Kake Da Dhaba at night. I was close to the restaurant and had stopped at the red light when the pole fell on us. It all happened within seconds. We had no time to react. The pole was not dangling or anything. It directly fell on us. I tried to save my life but suffered minor bruises on my abdomen and hand. The child was hurt the most…his head was bleeding. We rushed him to the hospital. The family was very frightened,” he told HT.

The Delhi traffic police said on Wednesday that they had taken cognisance of the incident and would take action based on the findings of the probe.

Traffic signals in Delhi are installed and maintained by private agencies engaged by the traffic police.

Ajay Chaudhary, special commissioner of police (Traffic), said, “We have issued notice to the maintenance agency/company. After a probe, the agency shall be held accountable for the incident. It’s a one-off incident and we will take strict action against those culpable. Prima facie, it appears that the pole was rusted, causing it to collapse. We have also constituted a team who will now inspect all traffic signals across Delhi so that such an incident does not happen again. All traffic lights will be inspected and we will check when they have to be replaced…”