Manipur | Plea to shift high tension wires from residential areas

IMPHAL | September 7, 2018:

A complained was made to the government of Manipur by the families of two children who were nearly electrocuted.  They said that the presence of the high-tension wires close to their dwellings led to their injuries.

Warshang Ronra Shimray, 12, of Kamphasom in Ukhrul district came in contact with a live wire on September 2, while P. Ashwin, 9, residing at Moreh in Tengnoupal district, and were nearly electrocuted on August 9.

Warshang's father, Mathotmi Shimray, said his son went out to play with his two friends on September 2 and was found unconscious on the newly constructed roof of neighbor Ramngachan Sareo's house.

For More Manipur News Click Here

Warshang, a class VI student, was rushed to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal where doctors told them their son would be discharged after treatment.

Medical attendants said the boy is still in observation and decision will be taken on Friday on the next course of action. The parents are worried that their son might lose his right hand, which touched the wire.

Villagers had appealed to the authorities to shift the wires, said a relative.

Trucks cannot cross the road in Kamphasom as the wires are dangling at a low height.

Warshang's parents said a mason had been electrocuted during the construction of the building. The owner had asked the power department to shift the wires, they said. Warshang's parents appealed to the state government to support him in earning a livelihood in the future.

Ashwin suffered an electric shock when he accidentally touched a high-tension wire with a steel ruler through the window of their rental home on August 9. He was transferred to RIMS after being administered first aid at a Moreh hospital.

Ashwin's father R. Pelikaan said a surgery was conducted on Wednesday and two fingers on his right hand are paralyzed. The boy suffered burns on his right hand, right leg, stomach, and the left palm. Doctors told Pelikaan that his son would be discharged after a month.

Ashwin is in a bed next to Warshang at the burns unit in RIMS. Ashwin's parents said they had shifted to the rental home after the house they were earlier staying in was among the nine gutted in a fire on April 19.

"We came to know that he came in contact with a high-tension wire which was just one-and-a-half feet from the roof," Shimray said.

The family has appealed to the government to install electric wires at a safe distance from homes.

Source: The Telegraph