When mishaps of electricity occur due to the negligence of the
electricity department, they cannot be termed as accidents. Similarly we cannot claim every mishap as the
negligence of the department. . . But
when a poor family loses its sole bread winner to an electric accident, what gives
anyone the right to make them wait for five years for compensation, under the
pretext of not receiving the appropriate documents in the right order?
Mohammad Sheikh hailed from the Mudnooru village of Vitla.
He married Abdul Khader’s daughter Amina from Kambalabettu, and was blessed
with four children. He was a labourer by
profession. When his earnings did not
suffice, Amina started rolling beedis to support the family. They were a content family despite all the
hardships.
Like all the poor families Mohammed also lived in a small
house without the basic amenity of a bathroom and toilet. The family met their needs of bath and toilet
by the side of a nearby water stream where they would get water for about 8
months in a year.
When the mishap took
place
On 23rd December 2001, Mohammed, who went to the stream
to attend to the nature’s call, did not return home even after 1 o’clock. Amina got worried. Shortly, she spotted some people of the
neighbourhood carrying Mohammed towards home and was panic stricken to find
that he had suffered an electric shock.
A broken branch of
the tree fell on the high tension electric wires passing above the bushes where
Mohammed was emptying his bowels. The
friction between the live wires of 110 KV flamed up the dried bushes
underneath. Before Mohammed could get up
from the place the fire engulfed him he was burnt up to the skin.
His painful screams for help drew the attention of Rafiq,
Basha Saheb, Ibrahim and some others who rushed to the place. They doused the fire and pulled Mohammad out
of the bushes. He was already charred
from neck to his toes. They took him to
Chetana hospital in Puttur by auto rickshaw.
He was given the first aid and was advised to be taken immediately to
the Wenlock hospital, Mangalore.
It was already 6 PM when they reached the Hospital. The burns department of the hospital attended
to his injuries and prepared a report of his burns and sent it over to
Pandeshwara Police Station. Albeit he
remained conscious, Mohammad was in a very critical condition and was groaning
in extreme pain.
The next day when the police arrived at 2 pm, he narrated
the whole incident to them. They
recorded how the high tension wires had rubbed against the dried bushes and
caught fire. Mohammad’s right hand was
completely burnt and he was unable to sign the recorded complaint so they took his
left thumb impression instead.
Battling death
The doctors struggled in vain as Mohammad fought for his
life. But his condition worsened day by
day. His right hand and legs had
completely lost the sensation. But Amina
persevered for his well being. She took
him to Father Muller’s Hospital at Kankanady, Mangalore, for better
treatment. She pleaded with the doctors
to cure her husband at any cost. They
had to amputate the toes of his left leg and fingers of the right hand in order
to save his life but all in vain. After 40 days of battling, Mohammad succumbed
to his injuries on 20-3-2002.
Amina was completely spent. After three months of the battle, she had
spent every paisa she had. Mr
Chandrashekhar, an inspector from the electricity department had taken her
signatures on some papers saying, the department would provide compensation for
Mohammad’s death. Amina had to clear a
debt of 3 lakhs borrowed from friends and finance companies. She had no clue how and to whom to apply for
the compensation, or what documents would be required for the same.
Attempts to obtain
compensation
With the help of a school teacher Amina managed to apply to
the Electricity Department in Vitla, requesting them for the compensation for
her husband’s death in an electric accident.
She sent a copy of the letter to the Human Rights Protection
Foundation asking them for guidance. The
very next day, the activists of the Foundation contacted the Electricity Section
in Vitla.
“All the details have been forwarded to the higher office in
Mangalore on 18-1-2002. The family will
be granted the money any day. This will
be done in the routine way”, they replied humbly.
On confirming that all the details of the accident (letter
numbered EEE/SRS/B-14/2674/77 dated 18-1-2002) had reached the higher office of
the department, the activists did not make any further correspondence. Though the incident was published in the
newspapers, people eventually forgot about it.
Meanwhile, widowed Amina waited for the compensation. She contacted Mr Chandrashekhar several times
asking about it, but he consoled her saying, “Government proceedings usually
take their time. Since the details of
the accident have already been sent, the money will definitely be granted.” “Why don’t you enquire at the Mangalore
Electricity Supply Company (MESCOM) office at Vitla?”, he suggested another
time. But when she went to the Vitla
office, they told her to enquire at the office in Mangalore. After three years of running from pillar to
post, as a last resort she approached a lawyer.
The lawyer enquired if her husband had given any statement to the police
before his death. Where was the FIR of
the accident? Where was the post mortem
report? Poor Amina did not understand
what he was talking about and where she could find all these reports.
Support from the
Foundation
As per the lawyer’s advice, she approached the Human Rights
Protection Foundation office. The activists obtained all the details from her
and sent a letter directly to the Executive Engineer of MESCOM. It said, “It’s been three years since the
accident took place and no compensation has been granted till date. Who should Mrs Amina contact to receive the
money she is entitled to?”
The reply from the official, received within ten days
revealed that he was aware of the said incident taken place on 23-12-2001.
The following points from the letter of the department may
be observed.
“. . . We learnt that Mr. Sheikh Mohammad had had burn
injuries on his hand and below the chest.
We also came to know that he was first taken to Chetana Hospital, and
then moved to Wenlock Hospital. Later on
he was taken to Father Muller’s hospital on 11-1-2002 for better treatment and
getting well. . . But I regret to state
that there is no notice of his death whatsoever either from you or from the
Vitla section office.” He had sent
copies of this letter to all the concerned offices of MESCOM. A copy of the letter was also sent to the
Foundation, requesting them to send all the information about the incident and
copies of all the letters and correspondence, if any, made with the Department.
The most puzzling thing was that none of the offices had any
document related to Mohammad’s accident or Amina’s application for
compensation. But fortunately, Human
Rights Protection Foundation had preserved all the documents; Amina’s
application for compensation dated 28-3-2002, and the letters from the
department dated 11-1-2002 and 18-1-2002.
Photocopies of all these documents were sent to the MESCOM officials in
Kavooru. The activists of the foundation
guided Amina to obtain the FIR, Muhammad’s death certificate, succession
certificate from the Tahshildar which were the documents essential to claim the
compensation. On 2-06-2006, within
15 days, all these were sent to the concerned.
Why the delay?
Five years had elapsed since the accident! The BPL family had lost their sole bread
winner. Did they have to wait for such a
long period for the compensation?
Knowing that Amina was uneducated, whose responsibility was it to guide
her and make her aware of the process and requirements of the same? Without considering any of that, was it right
on the part of the department to shirk away from their responsibility saying
that the right documents were not produced?
It is not a question of who was responsible for the
accident. How could the department
remain passive for five years, in spite of the knowledge that, a person had
lost his life due to some problem related to their own department? Would they behave in the same fashion if it
had been their own relative? If they had
denied her any money, she would have at least moved the court! Even after five months of submitting all the
required documents for the compensation the amount was not released to Amina! Is it a befitting action on the part of these
QUALIFIED ENGINEERS to keep mum on the matter?
THE ABOVE ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED
IN UDAYAVANI ON 16-11-2006 WITH A REQUEST TO THE READERS TO WRITE A POST CARD TO
THE CONCERNED MESCOM OFFICERS ABOUT THEIR PROTEST/ VIEWS WITH A COPY MARKED TO
THE FOUNDATION. THOUSANDS OF READERS
RESPONDED TO THE ARTICLE BY WRITING TO THE KPTCL CHIEF ENGINEER SRI T.H. SIPPESHAPPA, MINISTER FOR ELECTRICITY AND THE CHIEF
MINISTER OF KARNATAKA AND DEMANDED FOR JUSTICE TO AMINA.
Mohammed himself is
responsible!
Within a week of
this, the Chief Engineer of MESCOM Sri Adishesha replied’ “As per our records
Sheik Mohammed met with this accident when he was illegally cutting the branches
of the tree. The Corporation is in no
way responsible for the said accident and for any compensation on this behalf
to the deceased. However the Corporation
has decided to grant the compensation on humanitarian grounds.
Assuming that MESCOM was right on their contention, the
activists had the solace that at least the compensation was being granted.
Within a few days, the Foundation received another letter
from Amina.
“Sir, I received a call from one Mr Muralidhar of MESCOM
office, asking me to personally collect the compensation cheque for rupees one
lakh. When I went to collect the cheque,
I was asked to submit an undertaking stating that I would not make any further
efforts asking for more compensation, before the release of the cheque. I begged them for more compensation as I had
spent more than Rs. 3 lakhs towards my husband’s treatment. But I was denied of anything more and was
threatened that if I did not submit the undertaking, even the sanctioned
compensation would be forfeited. Owing
to my poverty, I had to give in, and I submitted the undertaking. A copy of the same is enclosed. My apologies to you Sir, as I have submitted
the same without consulting you. Yours,
Amina.”
What does it mean?
The Foundation had assumed that Mohammad himself was
responsible for the tragedy. But the
attitude of the Corporation gave rise suspicions about the death. So, the Foundation decided to investigate
into the matter.
An investigation committee led by Dr Nityananda Pai, of
Consumer Forum, Puttur, visited the accident spot and collected the
details. As per the rules, the
Corporation has to clear the trees and plants up to a distance of 22m around
the vicinity of the multi-circuit electric lines. It would be considered as negligence on the
part of the Corporation, if they failed to do so.
The work of cutting down the trees is the responsibility of
the Forest Department and the Electricity Department is responsible for
supplying the RTC, and valuation of the trees in deciding the compensation to
the land owners. When they visited the
place, they saw that there was not a single tree within 22 m, of both sides of
the electric lines. Suppose there was a
tree five years ago, then whose responsibility was it to fell it. If it had not been done, was it not
negligence on the part of the Corporation?
The Foundation had sufficient records of proof that no efforts were made
to remove the trees, until 2006.
If at all the matter went to the court, the negligence of
the Corporation on this score would undoubtedly come to light. Dreading this eventuality, they had resorted
to pressurize Amina to submit the undertaking.
Readers may think that Amina had erred by submitting the
undertaking. But The Supreme Court and
the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission have declared that undertaking submitted due to
force or out of helplessness bear no value.
If the QUALIFIED OFFICERS of the Electricity Department are ignorant of
this fact, let them judge themselves whether they deserve to hold their
respective posts. Let no other hapless,
illiterate woman like Amina fall a prey to such heinous acts of the so called
educated people. Could you ever fathom
that anybody could be so heartless?
Who exactly was responsible?
An
investigation committee visited the accident spot at Kambalabettu to verify the truth of the Elect. Corporation’s version that Sheikh Mohammad had
died in an accident caused when the branch of the tree which he was cutting
down, had fallen on the high tension wires and caught fire. None of the other reports had made a mention
of the tree being cut, so why was the Corporation making this statement? They stated that someone from the
neighbourhood had lodged a complaint about the same, but the complainant was
anonymous. So the Committee could not
verify this fact.
As per the
rules, the Electricity Department had to clear the trees and plants up to a
distance of 22m around the 110 KV multi-circuit electric lines. Hence as per the argument of the top officials,
there cannot be any tree in this area.
Such being the case, the question of Mohammad cutting the tree does not
arise. In fact there were no trees in
this place.
There was
an explicit reason for this accident.
About 15 years ago, spots for planting the electric towers were marked
for the Bantawal-Puttur HT power supply lines, passing through
Kambalabettu. One such tower was
supposed to be planted in the private lands of the ex MLA Mrs. Leelavathi
Rai. They failed to do so as permission
was not granted. For the same reason,
lines were drawn from only two towers skipping a tower in between. So, there was a distance of 350-400m between
the towers 138 and 139. Moreover, there
was a vented dam close by due to which the wires fixed hung at a low height of
10-12 feet from the ground. They were dangerously
hanging low scaring the villagers to death who crossed the dam carrying hay on
their heads.
On 2001
December, Sheikh Mohammad who was mining sand from the stream went to the
nearby bush to attend to nature’s call.
At this time, due to strong winds the bushes came in contact with the
wires and caught fire. It was recorded
by the police that Mohammad suffered severe burns on his legs, thighs, chest
and both hands, as a result of this fire.
But as per the
report by the Electricity Department, Mohammad’s hands and chest were burnt
while cutting the tree.
Readers may
please observe the photo of Mohammad published in Udayavani. It is evident that but for the neck and head,
the whole of Mohammad’s body is charred.
One can decide how reliable the report from the Department is. On hearing the blasting sound, followed by
Mohammad’s screams for help, his neighbours, Ismail Saheb Nooji, K Ibrahim
Saheb, Rafiq and some others, rushed to his rescue. Later on Mohammad had succumbed to his
injuries on 20-3-2002.
While the
Deparment had all along remained
complacent towards the complaints lodged by the localites about the dangers of
the low hanging electric wires, now within a few days of the said accident,
planted one more tower in between towers 138 and 139, and had pulled up the
wires to a safe height. In the meantime,
the land owner had changed, which turned out to be a blessing for the
department to finish their job.
But still,
as a proof of the divine complacency of the Department, the Low Tension wires
were still hanging at a height of 10-12 feet above the dam. All this information was gathered from the
eye witnesses, when the investigation committee visited the place for the
second time on 22-11-2006. Snap shots of
the spot were also taken for records.
-Nivedita
(translated from 'Bahujana Hitaaya, Bahujana Sukhaya' by Dr Ravindranath
Shanbhag)
