Narrow escape for many as power transformer falls from poles

Bareilly

: Several passers-by in Sahukara area here had a close shave on Saturday evening when a recently-installed

transformer

came crashing down, bringing to the fore the apathy of the power department which has shifted the onus on a private firm. The electricity department said it will the probe the incident and fix the responsibility.
According to the locals, the transformer was not fixed properly on the poles due to which the freak mishap happened. Luckily, no power connection was provided to the transformer. Junior engineer of Quila Substation, R C Srivastava, told TOI, “A 220 KV transformer was installed at Sahukara area by a private firm on Friday night. However, due to unknown reasons, it fell from the poles on Saturday evening raising concern among the locals and power officials alike.
“The matter was reported immediately to the senior power officials who are set to probe the case,” he said, adding that the transformer was shifted from site and will be re-installed by the concerned company soon. However, the official conceded that a major incident was averted as there was no electricity in the line. Meanwhile, several locals have alleged negligence in work by the concerned company’s engineers and the matter was brought to the notice
of power officials, who have not taken any action against the firm so far.
As per Rajneesh Agarwal, a local businessmen, “Few passers-by had a narrow escape after the transformer came down with huge sound leaving people in

shock

and disbelief. The whole area was covered with transformer oil. The incident was immediately brought to the notice of power officials though none of them turned up at the site for several hours.”