TURA: A man who was out fishing late Friday night in a beel or lake in the Phulbari area died from electrocution after he failed to notice a low lying live wire that was touching the water he fished.
Villagers from Shyamding found the deceased in the waters of the Shyamding beel early morning and alerted authorities.
The deceased, Nobur Ali (48) had gone out into the lake from Shyamding towards the Solartek side of the embankment to catch fish and in the darkness failed to notice the live electrical wire dangling dangerously into the water.
The water in the beel had been high for the past few weeks due to the frequent rains and poor maintenance from the power department appears to have led to this disaster.
“There are no checks conducted by the Me.ECL and MePTDCL officials. The live wire has been lying low for many months. Had the power department linesmen regularly checked this would not have happened,” complain locals from Phulbari.
Garo Hills has been plagued with a high number of deaths caused by electrocution and in most cases negligence from the power department has been to blame.