Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Congress, Thursday, blamed the state government for saving the energy department in the recent Ganjam bus electrocution death case where 11 persons were found dead due to the apathy of the government agencies.
Odisha Congress spokesperson Satya Prakash Nayak, Thursday, told the media that the prime culprit in the case was the Energy department and their lax behaviour. He also cited Supreme Court order in similar cases of loss of lives and claimed that in such cases the Energy department of the state is legally liable for such ignorance.
He said, “The energy department, SOUTHCO, is the real culprit in the case and the incident was bound to happen. The deaths could have been averted if a vigilant government was in place. Instead of taking prompt action, the government kept on ignoring the issue.”
The leader claimed that the state has been shunning responsibility in this case despite clear Supreme Court judgment which puts the state electricity board under lens for such accidents. He said, “In such cases, the SC had ordered that when there is loss of human and animal lives, prima facie it will be assumed that the fault lies with the electricity board.”
Nayak said that the state government has been protecting the Energy Department in this case by not fixing accountability. He said, “As per norms adequate infrastructure needs to be maintained for 11KV line which was not there in the Ganjam case,” he added.
The Congress leader also claimed that the minutes of the meeting of the Energy department have shown misleading statements from SOUTHCO. The energy minister agreed to that without questioning which allegedly showed his lack of understanding of the basic issues relating to electricity. The party also attacked the Energy Minister Dibya Shankar Mishra for handling multiple portfolios.