Sulky Rain God lashes city again

One electrocuted, APCC catches Dispur on wrong foot, BJP MLA to raise negligence in Assembly

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, June 22: The sulky Rain God punished Guwahati yet again, barely a week after lashing it thoroughly, for its ill-preparedness for monsoon rains. A newly-wedded youth, Dulal Malakar (30) of Sugam Path, Zoo Road, died in the city last night due to electrocution. He was an employee of KFC.

Dulal Malakar, son of rayan Malakar, hailed from Dakshin Singra (Dimu) near Rangiya in Kamrup. He was staying in the city.

The death of the person led to an uprising among the local people who did not allow the police to take possession of the body. The people of the locality said that they had lodged a complaint on the defective wire with the authorities concerned who, however, did not act promptly. People from the administration had to rush to the spot to pacify the angry mob. They were demanding Rs 10 lakh compensation and a government job to the next of kin of Dulal. ADC Pulak Mahanta announced that the ASEB would extend Rs 2.50 lakh and Rs 4 lakh by the district administration. He also assured Dulal’s widow of a job in the ASEB. The tragic incident led to the suspension of two APCDL employees – Anta Saikia and Chiranjiv Hazarika – for dereliction of duty.

There was heavy downpour in the city last night, inundating many areas like Chandmari, RG Baruah Road, Zoo Tiniali, GS Road, Paltan Bazar, Ganeshguri, Ganesh Mandir, Christianbasti, Anil gar, bin gar, Lachit gar, VIP Road, etc. The loss can be ascertained from the fact that many schools in the city remained closed today. The water started to recede after 9 am. 

Meanwhile, the government had to face the wrath of the Opposition and one of its own MLAs. The Assam Pradesh Congress Commttee (APCC) strongly condemned the lack of action from the government for precautiory measures for people’s safety. Last night’s incident came close on the heels of two persons, including a child, losing their lives due to electrocution during floods on June 13 in the area. Bobbeeta Sharma, who visited to spot today, said the death of the man proved utter negligence on the part of the power department and dereliction of duty of the authority concerned. “The government that experienced such an incident recently should have taken strong measures to avoid any such accident,” she said, and added that no government official visited the site even after the incident. 

Stating that ex gratia cannot compensate the loss of life she said that the APCC demanded stringent action against those responsible for the death of the person. “The government should also cover all open drains in the city so as to prevent people from falling into them when there are artificial floods,” she said.

Meanwhile, East Guwahati MLA Siddhartha Bhattacharya said that he would raise the issue of failure of the Power Department on the floor of the Assembly. “This incident is a sad one. The Power Department is responsible for it. Two persons died of electrocution here a few days back. How come the department remains unmoved even after the death of two persons due to electrocution? I’m a legislator of the ruling party. Sad enough, I’m uttering all such against the government of my party. Nothing can be more unfortute than a department not working properly. We’re MLAs. As to why should we have to face the wrath of the public for no fault of ours? Two employees have already been suspended after today’s incident.”

Taking a dig at the minister concerned, Bharrachrya said that if the minister could not run his department properly or if he had no capability how would the department work. “I’ll have to raise the issue on the floor of the Assembly,” he said.