One more Bescom Lineman Casualty

Extract from Deccan Herald epaper
Deccan Herald
Saturday 15 November 2014
News updated at 2:31 PM IST
Bengaluru, Nov 15, 2014, DHNS
Lineman falls to death
A Bescom lineman fell to his death from a 15-foot electricity pole at the United Telecom factory premises on Graphite India Road near Mahadevapura police station limits on Thursday. The victim is Muniraju, 43, from Maragondanahalli.
Muniraju and two others from Bescom (Mahadevapura office) went to the spot to attend to a complaint. It was a high-tension wire and they went there only after obtaining line clearance (disruption in power supply). Minor shocks made him lose balance and he fell to the ground.

Above data was present on this link http://www.deccanherald.com/content/441674/girl-ends-life-fight-sibling.html. Its a pity that a suicide and accident of Bescom lineman was clubbed so that at first go, you will not even find this information, unless you click the complete news item.

This death showcases that, no safety equipment are provided to the linemen. The lineman who came to attend our case had a helmet (with no belt). Such helmets are useless when the lineman slips and falls head on, because they are not basically for protection.

Most sarcastic point is, the officers seated comfortably in their cabins, who attend phone calls and talk with customers, or staff (AE) who supervise the work (without moving out of their place in office), are paid more than the risk taking linemen. In my next post, I will divulge details of pay scale and allowances they are entitled to. This document is also available on Bescom website.

Kudos to Bescom Linemen Again

I am glad to inform all who were following this post, that problem that persisted with electricity outage was resolved completely. This time again, all the higher officials could not understand why I was making a fuss, when electricity was restored in the morning itself. I had to keep explaining them it was only temporary, this problem was not completely resolved to which the AEE asks me, what is temporary and what is permanent solution. I said your linemen took pity on us, and did a patch up repair job so that my water supply is not hit. I could not use my electric water filter nor could I fill my overhead tanks because power supply got disrupted yesterday evening itself.
The linemen came and so did the rain, they had a very broken patched up wooden ladder to support their climb. I was stunned they called it safety ladder. Unfortunately I could not click its picture. They waited for rain to subside, but to no avail, finally they traced the problem was due to line clubbing and said they will need 10mm lead wires measuring 2m to finish the job. I asked them to get it and finish the job once and for all.
Finally they completed this dangerous task by climbing the fragile wooden ladder, adeptly multitasking with ease. Linemen requested that I do not click their pictures. They did not do anything less than a circus feat. He climbed the pole like an athlete pole climber and attended wires with single hand(thank god they get to request power off during such repairs), holding the poles with other hand and two feet. God I was praying that this job finishes without casualties.
How many times have you seen linemen ignore all lurking dangers and climb with so much agility for few bucks. I will always pray for linemen and keep posting articles daily on my blog. Will surely want BESCOm to take note of their plight. I would not be comfortable if I get to learn that a lineman died fixing my line, so that I could use my cooler.
Humanity survives and saves you, only if you save and let it survive.

Why I Pity Bescom Linemen

Bangalore W2 subdivision
Yesterday evening 13 November 2014,  6pm I witnessed huge amount of rain and firework in front of my house. Fireworks that were coming out of electric pole connected with street light. unfortunately our mains line is also connected to the same pole. with fireworks going strong, the fluctuations in current also gained momentum, I feared our appliances safety and switched off important appliances even though I had stabilizer to every appliance. Then came the storm, lights went out, and to my surprise, electricity was out in our house only. This had happened earlier this month, when the same lineman had come and done a temporary work so that electricity is restored.
Then began our woes, We called every helpline we could get from net, from other people, but calls went unanswered or they informed us that their duty was done for that day. until 8:30 our phone calls continued. Our UPS started to give away, and we had to grope around the house because street light right in front our house alone was out. 1912, was giving busy tone, all landline numbers published on the bescom website were real waste. At 8:30 a lady took our call on 1912, and we had temporary relief as she consoled us saying our complaint will be attended that day itself. We particularly told her to send the ladder along with linemen, because the pole is quite high to reach and needs a safety ladder. We waited for very long, but no lineman called.
I resolved to fight out this issue first thing in the morning because I was too tired, and i thought so might be the linemen. I prayed for everybody in trouble and slept.
Morning I faced lot of issues, and I realized we depend completely on electricity. Rain and clouds since three days had depleted the hot water in solar geyser. With no power, all my work got hampered and delayed. At 9:30 a phone call from a person who told he was calling from Bescom said, he is sending linemen, to which I told him to send along safety ladder. He said OK and cut the call. At 10:30 we are informed that two linemen are coming to attend our complaint. I remind them to bring the ladder again. They come without ladder, and ask if We have a ladder. Then began our woes all over again. We made phone calls to the AE, help line and every other person we could get hold of. We were told, ladder's on the way. At 11:40AM the linemen pitied us and tried to do the temporary work to restore power, as they had to attend many other complaints. They climbed walls and used iron stairs over the electric pole. I was so worried about their safety.
Because they are helpful and understand the woes of a consumer, they do their best even without thinking about their own safety. Henceforth, I will always remember the two linemen in my prayers. I took a picture of them working in dangerous situation and they were like, Please madam, do not post it anywhere, we will be scolded for not wearing safety gears, but we are not provided one with.

I really pity them. They work very hard so that we cool ourselves in ACs, we cook our food on time, we go to office on time and stay comfortably. But what do they get in return??

Please save the linemen. Lets join hands and raise our voice and seek the Bescom to provide safety equipment to linemen. Its high time, we take notice of the lives we push towards danger, just to ensure we do not face inconvenience.