MSEDCL engineer, lineman booked for negligence after labourer became disabled

The accused have been identified as section engineer Siddharth Dongre and lineman Arjun Chavan. “The contract labourer, Salman Muzaffar Bhivankar, 32, working at the Mahape MIDC office of MSEDCL, lost both his hands and has been permanently disabled due to the negligence of the duo,” an officer from MIDC police station said

Navi Mumbai: A section engineer and lineman attached to Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) have been booked for negligence after a contractual employee was permanently disabled while working on a 22,000 KV electrical tower.

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The accused have been identified as section engineer Siddharth Dongre and lineman Arjun Chavan. “The contract labourer, Salman Muzaffar Bhivankar, 32, working at the Mahape MIDC office of MSEDCL, lost both his hands and has been permanently disabled due to the negligence of the duo,” an officer from MIDC police station said.

On June 28, due to Eid-ul-Adha, Bhivankar had taken leave, but he was called in the afternoon for some urgent work. At 7pm, Chavan took him to work near Ramnath Solar Company in Pawane, MIDC area. Chavan asked Salman to climb the 22,000 KV high-pressure electric pole, which he refused to climb as they did not provide him with the necessary safety equipment. But Chavan insisted that he climb the electric pole as he had spoken to Dongre about the same.

After that, Chavan went to shut the electricity supply of the pole and asked Bhivankar to climb the pole. But, as soon as Bhivankar touched the electric wires on the pole, there was an explosion, in which both his hands and feet were severely burnt, and he was covered in a pool of blood. He was admitted to the National Burns Center and then to KEM Hospital for further treatment. However, due to gangrene in both of his hands, they had to be amputated. As a result, he is permanently disabled. Salman is still undergoing treatment. After Salman filed a complaint at the Turbhe MIDC police station last week, the police have registered a case.

During the investigation, the police unearthed that at the time of switching off the supply, Chavan got a phone call, and while answering the phone call, he accidentally shut the power of another tower instead of the one on which Bhivankar was to climb, which caused the accident. The duo have been booked under section 338 (causing grievous hurt by an act endangering the life or personal safety of others) of the IPC. “We have served both with a notice as per the procedure, and the further investigations are on,” the officer said.