K-Electric directed to pay Rs15 mn fine in child electrocution case   

KARACHI: A session court in Karachi has directed the K-Electric to pay a Rs15 million fine in an electrocution case that involves a 12-year-old child who was electrocuted in Karachi during 2013, ARY NEWS reported on Saturday.

According to details, on 26 November 2013, 12-year-old Safeer got electrocuted in an incident that also involves the death of a man identified as Arif.

While giving its verdict, the court ordered that the negligence of the sole power supplier in the city has been proved in the case as besides providing the power it was also responsible to repair the electric wires.

“The K-Electric should pay a fine of Rs15 million to the aggrieved party,” it said. Further, the court remarked that the broken and open wires could prove harmful to human lives.

It is pertinent to mention here that the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has imposed an amount of Rs 50 million as a fine upon K-Electric directing the power utility to ensure a fully secured power distribution system by April 2020.

The power regulator has also directed the utility providing electricity to Karachi to ensure third-party evaluation of its power distribution system.

Scores of people died by electrocution during rains in Karachi in the months of July and August this year.

An inquiry launched to find out the reasons behind the deaths of several people by electrocution during the rainy weather. The probe also inquired if the K-Electric violated the safety rules of the power regulatory authority.

The NEPRA had earlier in an in-house investigation on the deaths in Karachi due to electrocution had concluded findings and leveled blame of most deaths on K-Electric for not making pre-rain measures for the safety and security of the citizens as exposed high-tension wires became death warrants.