Power Dept blamed for putting up live transmission line close to college wall

Anantnag: A 20-year-old student of Government Degree College Bijbehara was electrocuted to death while playing volleyball in the college premises on Wednesday.
Shocked students of the college held a protest over the death and raised slogans against the Power Development Department (PDD) and the college administration.
“PDD has put up a live transmission line perilously close to the college wall, while the college administration delayed providing a vehicle for taking the student to hospital,” students at the college said.
The deceased student has been identified as Umar Farooq Ganai, son of Farooq Ahmad, a resident of Darigund village in Srigufwara area of Bijbehara.
As per the students, a game of volleyball was going on in the college ground and Umar was also playing.
“The ball was smashed out of the college premises and Umar volunteered to fetch it. He climbed the wall and was caught by the live wire running alongside the wall,” an eyewitness student told Kashmir Reader.
Students said that the college administration did not provide a vehicle in time. “By the time he reached the Government Medical College Hospital in Anantnag, he was declared brought dead,” the students said.
Following his death, dozens of students resorted to sloganeering right outside the college and demanded justice for their fellow student.
Sources in the college said that the live transmission line earlier ran through the college premises and it was after insistence by the college administration that it was relocated.
“They had taken it out of the college but not far enough,” the sources lamented. “This is a hazard and we all know children can be at risk while playing. The PDD should have been more careful while relocating the line.”
Kashmir Reader talked to PDD Executive Engineer for Bijbehara, Mushtaq Ahmad Shah, who said that this was the only available path when the lines were being relocated back in 2017.
“If we had to find another path then the poles would have to be erected on private land. Why would anyone give us the permission to do so?” Shah said.
On allegations of delay in making a vehicle available, in-charge principal of the college, Peer Muzaffar, said that the accusations were baseless.
“I am Principal GDC Khannabal and have the additional charge of the college where the mishap took place. I rushed to the college as soon as the news reached me,” Peer told Kashmir Reader.
He said that he wanted to be sure that there was no delay on the administration’s part and hence checked the CCTV footage.
“The CCTV footage clearly shows that the driver of the college vehicle ran towards the vehicle within seconds of the incident, but a college faculty had managed to put Umar in his car by then and rushed him to the hospital,” Peer said.
“I can assure that there was no delay on part of the college authorities,” he maintained.
The body of the deceased was meanwhile taken to his village where hundreds of people participated in his last rites.

Suhail A Shah