The Odisha government on Monday suspended four engineers for negligence, a day after 10 persons died and over 25 others were injured when a bus came in contact with a 11KV cable in Ganjam district.
Health Minister Naba Das announced the establishment of a burns unit at MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur after seven seriously injured persons could not be treated there for lack of facilities. They had to be taken to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
Two of the suspended engineers were working for SOUTHCO Utility, a power distribution company, and the others were attached to the Rural Development Department.
After a high-level meeting in Bhubaneswar, Energy Minister Dibya Sankar Mishra said the height of all 11KV power cables would be increased to 20 feet.
The accident occurred at Mendarajpur when the bus was carrying 40 passengers from Dankalpadu to Chikarada for an engagement ceremony.
Transport Minister Padmanabh Behera blamed the Energy Department and the bus driver for the accident. SOUTHCO released a report, blaming the accident on the Rural Development Department. The report said the Rural Development Department had concretised the road in 2018, increasing its height by 3 to 4 feet, and since then, SOUTHCO had been asking it for the money required to increase the height of the cable.
