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The Hindu
2 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Electrocution deaths in Hyderabad processions: Towering idols and dangling wires make for a fatal mix
The Krishna Janmashtami procession in Ramanthapur here was meant to be a celebration, but joy turned into horror when a trolley carrying an idol brushed against overhead wires, electrocuting five people on the spot. What unfolded on Monday night was not just a freak accident but part of a deadly cycle that has made Hyderabad's skyline a trap during festivals. The Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana has begun cutting off cables that were strung to the utility's infrastructure. Towering idols, pulled through narrow lanes under a jungle of wires, have often proved to be hazardous. On July 8, a man lost his life while fixing an advertisement banner to an arch in Kukatpally. Weeks before that, two men in Korutla were killed when a crane ferrying an idol touched a 33kV high-tension line. After the Ramanthapur incident, tragedy struck again in Bandlaguda on Tuesday, where two more lives were lost as a 23-foot idol grazed the wires above. Together, the string of accidents has amplified urgent calls to regulate idol heights and clear the city's skyline of dangerous, dangling cables before more lives are cut short. If the tragedies have underlined anything, it is the magnitude of risk. The tallest Ganesh idol in Hyderabad this year, to be installed at Khairatabad, will soar at 69 feet from the ground up. At workshops across Dhoolpet, Uppal, Suchitra Junction, Miyapur and Attapur, artisans are sculpting idols that already tower well above 10 feet. In 2016, the Telangana High Court had advised capping the idol height at 15 feet — a suggestion that has stayed largely on paper, with wealthier organisers determined to outdo one another in terms of grandeur and scale. Warnings, too, have come and gone with little impact. In 2024, chairman and managing director of the Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Ltd., Musharraf Faruqui called a meeting of cable operators and internet service providers, instructing them to remove the snarls of cables hanging dangerously from electric poles. Eight years earlier, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation had sounded the same alarm. Both warnings have been ignored. In 2016, Hyderabad saw the immersion of 91,154 Ganesh idols. Last year, the figure had swelled past 1,02,510. With it, the city's skyline has grown denser, not only with idols but with wires. What were once the lone strands of cable operators now jostle for space with electricity lines, fibre-optic networks, television connections and CCTV linkages, creating a chaotic web overhead. On Tuesday afternoon, electricity department officials fanned out across Medchal, Vanasthalipuram, Kukatpally, Kokapet, R.K. Puram Asha Officers Colony and other parts of the city, snipping the hanging cables and leaving them in tangled heaps by the roadside.
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Hyderabad: Ex-irrigation chief C Muralidhar Rao arrested in Rs 50 crore DA case; ACB unearths solar project, luxury assets
HYDERABAD: Retired engineer-in-chief of the irrigation department, C Muralidhar Rao, was arrested on Tuesday after the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) unearthed disproportionate assets worth over ₹50 crore, including a 2KW solar power project in Zaheerabad, in a series of coordinated raids. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The senior official was booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, following the discovery of a vast array of assets-ranging from prime real estate and luxury vehicles to gold and the solar power project-allegedly acquired through illicit means during his service. ACB officials said the solar project has a 20-year purchase agreement with Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana (TGSPDCL). ACB teams conducted searches at 12 locations, including Muralidhar Rao's residence in Banjara Hills and properties linked to him and his relatives across Hyderabad, Zaheerabad, and Karimnagar. "On July 15, we registered a case against Muralidhar Rao after collecting prima facie evidence of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. He had acquired several movable and immovable properties through unlawful practices," an ACB official said. Muralidhar Rao was dismissed in Feb 2024 by the Congress govt. The retired irrigation official was made ENC soon after the BRS came to power in 2014. Former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao had entrusted Muralidhar Rao with construction of major irrigation projects. The market value of the recovered assets is estimated at over ₹50 crore. Sources said the value will run into hundreds of crores. Muralidhar Rao was produced before the court for judicial remand. "After the judicial remand, we will seek his custody for further interrogation," the ACB official added.
