NHRC sends notice to UPPCL, DM over electrocution of girl

The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to UP Power Corporation Ltd and the District Magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar after a 10-year-old girl lost her hands as she accidentally came in contact with a high tension wire over her house in Greater Noida.
The Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report about the incident that occurred on July 7.
The girl suffered burn injuries due to shock from the 11 KV cable over her house in Mirzapur village of Rabupura area of Uttar Pradesh, an official statement said, adding she was taken to Safdarjung hospital in Delhi where both her hands had to be amputated.

Stating that authorities cannot escape responsibility for allowing the electricity line at a dangerous height in a residential area, it issued a notice to the District Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar and the Chairman, UP Power Corporation Limited calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks.
They are also expected to inform about the steps being taken to avoid such incidents in the future.
"The Commission has noted that in the reported incident, the state administration as well as the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) cannot escape their responsibility for not ensuring that such a high voltage line should not have passed through the residential areas at a height that even a child could touch it.

"Such inaction by the concerned authorities amounts to violation of Right to Life and safety of the people," an NHRC statement said.
The NHRC said it has come across many such cases where due to negligence of authorities, people were electrocuted. Registration of a criminal case, fixing responsibility of the guilty and granting monetary relief to the victim would not alone compensate the loss in every case, it said.
"It is imperative for the authorities to have a sensible approach to avoid occurrence of such horrific incidents," the Commission added.