Mumkala Bhandari, 65, of Hunga-4 died on the spot after stepping on the wire lying on the ground after an electricity pole was uprooted, police confirmed. This comes hot on the heels of another similar death in Juhung VDC of the district a few days ago. [break]
Irate locals have put the blame squarely on the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) for ignoring repeated pleas of replacing decaying old poles. District Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Gulmi and Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Gulmi have also slammed NEA for the negligence and handed over a memorandum in protest.
NEA, however, refused to take responsibility for the incident. “The villagers had used 30 weak poles of sal to extend the supply line by two kilometers. The mishap occurred after one such pole fell down,” acting head of NEA, Gulmi Nirmal Karki argued.
He claimed NEA had provided the wire under pressure from the locals who offered to make provision of poles themselves.
“The NEA regulations require use of treated wooden poles to supply power. But the former head was apparently forced by the locals to release the wires for weaker poles,” he added. He said power supply in the area has been cut by sending staffers following the incident.
District Police Office said Bhandari´s body was handed over to the family on Tuesday morning following postmortem.
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