Life in danger: Trees serve as electric poles
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Jandrola (Poonch), March 17
It may sound bizarre, but it is true. At a time when the state government is seeking to improve power generation in the state, the Electricity Department is attaching electric wires to trees instead of electric poles. This has given sleepless nights to residents who constantly fear of being electrocuted, especially in rainy days.

Residents said only one pole was available for attaching wires, whereas 10 electric poles were needed. They rued that the department overcame the deficit by attaching electric wires to trees at Mannua, Batungi and Kikar. They also complained that since electric wires were attached to trees, there were cases where people had been electrocuted.

“Four years back there was severe damage to electric poles due to snowfall. After that we were expecting that the department would replace the poles. But instead they attached electric wires to green trees. It is always dangerous,” said Lal Hussain, a resident and a retired forester.

“We feel scared as there is danger of electric shock especially during the rainy season,” he added. He said on many occasions, the Electricity Department had been urged to provide electric poles, but to no avail. Surprisingly, this is not the only area here where the Electricity Department has attached wires to trees. The department seems to follow the same practise in Gali Naag, Sathra and Arai villages.

Villagers rued that the Electricity Department was endangering the lives of people by attaching wires to trees. They said there had been more than 24 instances where villagers had suffered electric shocks from these trees. “In Sathra in 2005, a farmer Muhammad Sharief was electrocuted after getting an electric shock from a tree. Similarly, in Arai area, a youth died of electric shock in February,” said Aejaz Ahmed Jan, a local National Conference leader.

All efforts to contact the Electricity Department authorities proved futile. However, deputy commissioner, Poonch, Bishan Dass Sharma told The Tribune that the matter would be looked into. “I will personally look into the matter. We will ensure that electricity poles are set up in these villages as soon as possible,” he assured.