M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, July 3: Six cattle comprising two cows and four oxen were electrocuted on late Saturday night when an 11 KV electricity wire fell on them leading to their instant death at Jhaber village in Palamu.
The lagatar24.com correspondent tried talking to the general manager cum chief engineer of electricity Sanjay Kumar was not available to talk, however, texted the numbers of his officials to take notes as to how it all happened.
The executive engineer (electricity) S C Mishra said that there was lightning last night. The insulator (conductor) punctured (snapped). The vacuum circuit breaker (VCB) broke the power supply.
Sources said the cattle were tied to the electricity pole when the incident happened.
Executive engineer Mishra has urged people not to use electricity poles for anything else as it may be dangerous. Mishra further said they are looking into the aspects of the compensation as per rules.
The government also provides compensation in case of electrocution. For cows, the compensation money is 30,000 rupees per head while it is 25,000 rupees for ox.
The electrocuted cattle underwent post-mortem by a veterinary doctor. The owner of the cattle will have to present compensation claims but it may be difficult if their cattle were tied to the electricity pole.
Meanwhile, the former minister K N Tripathy also visited the site at Jhaber and assured the cattle owners of due compensation.
