Panel for strict action against NMC officials sanctioning M/s Armors Developers plan
| Date :21-Oct-2020 |
Staff Reporter :
All stakeholders guilty of violating electrical safety norms, HC told
THE experts’ committee appointed by Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court after taking suo motu cognisance of unfortunate deaths of two school going children who had come in contact with high tension line in 2017, has held all stakeholders including all individual violators, local planning authorities -- Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), Nagpur Improvement, Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority (NMRDA) -- and also Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Commission (MSEDCL) and SNDL (now defunct) jointly responsible for electrical safety clearance violations.
The committee has also held NMC primarily responsible for sanctioning an erroneous building plan of Armors Township at Sugat Nagar, Nagpur which resulted in breach of the mandatory norms prescribed in DCR. It has recommended that officers of the Town Planning Department of NMC, who sanctioned the faulty building plan of M/S Armors Developers Pvt Ltd resulting into electrocution of the two boys, should be identified and stringent disciplinary action taken against them within six months. The committee submitted its final voluminous report to the High Court on Monday. It has recommended pooling of funds for sharing the cost of rectification, without prejudice to the rights of the local authorities to take action as per provisions of MRTP Act, 1966.
It suggested that NMC, NIT, MSEDCL each should bear the 25 per cent cost, SNDL 15 per cent and individual violators should contribute 10 per cent. The High Court, on June 22, 2017, had taken a suo motu cognisance of newspaper reports highlighting the news of four children losing their lives due to electrocution in Nagpur city. Eleven-year-old twin brothers Priyansh and Piyush Dhar were electrocuted on May 31, 2017 by a 33 KV High Tension (HT) line at Armors Township, Sugat Nagar in Jaripatka area. The line was passing right above their aunt’s residence. Five-year-old Swayam Pande was electrocuted by an 11KV HT Line at IC Square, Hingna Road and died on spot. The cable was hardly a foot above the terrace of Mukund Restaurant. Similarly, 12-year-old Amit Akre of Ramtek died after getting an electric shock. His uncle Prashant and aunt Neelima were also electrocuted and were treated in a hospital. The Division Bench, comprising Justice Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Justice Rohit Deo observed the deaths as “distressing and heart-wrenching.”
The Bench noted that the authorities failed to maintain prescribed distance between HT lines and constructions as per Indian Electricity Rules, 1956, and Central Electricity Authority (CEA) Rules. High Court appointed senior counsel Adv Shreerang Bhandarkar as amicus curiae. On November 8, 2017, the High Court constituted Experts’ Committee comprising S D Jahagirdar, retired IAS Officer and Ex-Chairman of Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum, Prakash Kulkarni, Manohar Bagde, both retired Executive Director of MSEDCL, A P Ganguly, ex-Executive Engineer of MSEDCL and ex-senior official of SNDL and Crompton Greaves, Abdul Rauf Sheikh, Retired Deputy Commissioner (Maharashtra Development Service), senior counsel Adv Gauri Venkatraman, Vice-President (now President) of Nagpur High Court Bar Association (as Member Convener) and Shirish Borkar, President of Nagpur Union of Working Journalists to conduct physical verification of 141 or thereabout high risk areas and to submit a report dealing with the issues of accountability and responsibility, and preventive and remedial measures.
The committee recommended necessary amendment to Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Electricity Supply Code and Other Conditions of Supply) Regulations, 2005 for release of new electric connections by MSEDCL. It has also recommended that earth leakage circuit breaker (ELCB) be made mandatory for all Low Tension (LT) consumer categories irrespective of the connected load. Presently, it is mandatory for connected load above 2 kW so as to prevent electrical accidents at domestic places.
As regards setting up of benchmark pertaining to the payment of compensation due to deaths by electrocution and accidents, the committee has recommended that regulations already made and promulgated by the Andhra Pradesh Regulatory Commission be considered and adopted by the MERC. The panel has strongly recommended that no building permit in close proximity to any HT line should be granted if the proposed building is likely to breach the mandatory DCR/CEA’s safety regulations for safe electrical clearance norms, until and unless the HT/LT line is rectified at the cost of the plot holder. While considering regularisation of any layout, the cost of shifting of the existing HT lines should be included in the total cost of development, it said.