HT wire falls on tractor; farmer, kids electrocuted

In a shocking case of official apathy and negligence, a 35-year-old farmer and his two children were electrocuted after a low-lying 11 kV line snapped and landed on a tractor trailer at their farm on the outskirts of Chalagera in the taluk on Friday.

Hanumanth Beerappanavar, his daughter Priyanka (4), son Beerappa (2) are deceased. The deceased farmer’s wife Sheelavva and tractor driver Gyanappa survived escaped with minor burns.

The incident occurred when the victims were returning home in the tractor with a heap of sunflower following the harvesting. When the snapped power line landed on the trailer, Hanumantha pushed his wife out of the trolly. But he, along with his two children, suffered electric shock and died on the spot.

Heartwrenching scenes were witnessed at Chalagera where the relatives and the villagers broke down on seeing bodies of Hanumath and two kids.

Irate villagers alleged that repeated pleas to Gescom to fix the low-lying power lines fell on deaf ears. They blamed negligence of Gescom engineer and linemen of the area office responsible for the deaths.

DH’s efforts to contact Gangavathi division executive engineer and Kushtagi sub-division engineer for response failed as the officers did not pick up calls.

This is second electrical accident in Koppal district in less than a month. In August third week, five children were electrocuted at BCM hostel in Koppal when they came in contact with power line while removing the flagpost.