NHRC notice to UP govt over injury to schoolchildren due to high-tension wire

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a report from the UP government into the incident in which over 50 students were injured after a high-tension wire fell into a primary school in Balrampur district. Taking suo motu cognisance of media reports, the NHRC issued notices to the UP chief secretary and the chairman, Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (MVVNL), seeking a detailed report within four weeks.

Meanwhile, the state government Tuesday ordered the removal of hanging electricity wires over school buildings. UP Basic Education Minister Anupma Jaiswal, who visited the the Naya Nagar Vishnupur area in Utraula tehsil where the incident took place Monday, said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had directed officials to take steps to prevent such incidents in the future.

"Those responsible for the incident will be taken to task," she told reporters. Jaiswal also visited the injured students and assured their parents of good medical care.

At least 100 children were present in the school when the incident took place. The human rights panel had observed that the reported incident portrayed "irresponsible and negligent attitude" of the MVVNL authorities.

The contents of the news report, if true, raise a serious issue of human rights violation, an NHRC release issued here read. The commission would like to know about the status of the medical treatment being provided to the injured students along with steps taken by the authorities to prevent such incidents in future, it said.

The commission also expected the state government to inform about the status of the relief provided to the victim students, it added. The human rights panel further observed that necessary steps should have been taken by the school authorities if a 11,000 kV high-tension electric cable was passing above the school building.

It added that the authorities concerned cannot escape their responsibility of ensuring safety of students in schools. The commission has also recommended ex-gratia relief to the victims.

The human rights panel said in the release that it had been insisting the state government and the authorities concerned to take effective steps for proper maintenance of the power supply infrastructure so that precious human lives were not lost in fatal accidents. UP minister Anupama Jaiswal said, "Continuous efforts are on to ensure quality education and improve the condition of school buildings. Steps have been initiated to repair 42,000 school buildings which are in a bad shape."

Taking a note of the incident, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on Tuesday asked the MD, MVVNL, to ascertain the cause of the accident and submit a report within 24 hours. Two employees of the Power Department were suspended and a departmental inquiry was ordered against them.

Adityanath had also directed the Principal Secretary (Energy) and the MD, UP Power Corporation, to run a campaign to safeguard people against the risk of high-tension wires.