Miraculous escape for seven in city

On Kukkarahalli road: Power poles collapse on moving vehicles; no casualty

A total of six electric poles made of cement, collapsed when an Indian Beech (Honge in Kannada) tree in Kukkarahalli lake compound, adjacent to one of the standing poles uprooted, falling on defunct 11 KV wire.

Subsequently, the pole developed crevice in the bottom, as it could not withstand the weight of the tree. Simultaneously, five other poles connected by lines fell down on cars and two-wheelers passing by the road. While the car in the front was heavily damaged, the three others sustained small amount of damages.

The mishap occurred around 3.20 pm, when the road that’s normally busy had hardly a few users owing to weekend.

Joby Thomas was taking his uncle John and aunt Maria Kutti from Kerala, along with his wife Maya to the Palace in his car, when a pole fell on the four-wheeler with a huge thud.
He suddenly stopped the car. Thomas who was petrified for a while, was happy to note that they escaped by a whisker. The windscreen was totally broken into pieces, besides the top of the car was dented.

He summoned his friend to take his relatives in another vehicle back to home. A resident of third stage,Vijayanagar, Joby is a scientific officer at RMP here.

A motorcycle rider, learnt to be a cop, closely following the car was lucky to be thrown off when a pole hit the front portion.

However, it was really a close call for another two-wheeler rider M S Sapna, a lecturer at Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, at Manasagangothri.

“I had just worn the helmet before entering the stretch. The pole that broke, brushed past the helmet, causing her fall down”, said Sapna recalling the hair-raising experience.
Initially, she thought that she may have suffered shock and checked for herself, only to heave a sigh of relief later. Another car that was coming behind came to a screeching halt, when it was entangled in the wire.

Following this, Dhanush, an emergency wing of Mysore City Corporation (MCC) arrived on the spot and removed the tree To avoid congestion, the traffic police ably assisted by Saraswathipuram and Jayalakshmipuram Police sealed the road from both the sides.

Cesc Executive Engineer Munigopal Raju, AEE (Kuvempunagar sub-division) Sunil Kumar and area engineer Dharmesh, supervised the operations, with additional staff drawn from other divisions clearing the poles.

Saraswathipuram Police have registered a case and are investigating.