MGR centenary function pole claims another life in Ooty

UDHAGAMANDALAM: A 48-year-old agricultural worker was electrocuted when a metal pole he was holding came in contact with the fuse wire of a transformer in

Ooty

on Thursday. The pole had been erected to fly an AIADMK flag.

Several metal and wooden poles with AIADMK flags have been erected in most of the roads in the town in connection with the MGR centenary function to be held on December 30. Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, his cabinet colleagues and MLAs will be taking part in the function.

D Babu, 48, had supported himself against the pole while shifting fertilizer that had been unloaded on the roadside at Kodappamund. A Manikandan, Ooty town

DSP

, told TOI that “Babu was holding the pole for support when it tilted and came in contact with the fuse wire of a transformer. He was rushed to the Ooty government hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Hospital sources said the postmortem will be held on Friday.

In the meantime, residents blocked the Kodappamund Road in protest. “We want the local AIADMK MP (

Rajya Sabha

) K R Arjunan to come to the spot. We need an answer from him for the incident that took away a life,” said the residents.

Police held talks with the restive crowd and brought the situation under control. A case was registered by the police and an enquiry is under way.

A social worker, pleading anonymity, said, “It is a fatal accident due to sheer negligence by the authorities who allowed erection of metal poles. Also, the public should know whether permission has been granted for erecting metal and wooden poles on the state highway at Kodappamund.”

The ruling dispensation had come in for widespread criticism when

K Raghupathi

, an IT professional working in the US, was killed when he rode his bike into an arch erected on

Avinashi Road

in Coimbatore. The arch had been put up for the MGR centenary function in Coimbatore.

DMK working president M K Stalin had condemned the AIADMK, saying the state government was blatantly violating a high court order on obstructive and dangerous hoardings on national and state highways.