MSEDCL Employees Ordered to Pay Compensation for Nagpur Farmer's Crop Damage
MSEDCL staff members ordered to compensate a Nagpur farmer for crops lost at 10 lakh rupees due to their negligence.
A consumer commission in Nagpur, Maharashtra, has directed four employees of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) to compensate a local farmer for the loss of his bamboo crop. The compensation amount is set at ₹10 lakh.
The decision was based on the officials' failure to maintain necessary standards, which subsequently led to the damage. The commission held the MSEDCL accountable for this oversight, deeming it a deficiency in service.
The complainant, a 68-year-old farmer, had planted 5,000 bamboo trees on his farm that were to be sold in a semi-dry state. He alleged that the trees caught fire in March 2018 due to a fault in power lines passing through his field, which were caused by friction and sparking between two wires of the MSEDCL's high-tension transmission line.
The damage, as assessed by the forest department, amounted to ₹10.27 lakh. Although the MSEDCL's executive engineer received this report, the farmer was initially only paid ₹4.2 lakh as compensation. Dissatisfied with this compensation, the farmer took his case to the consumer commission.
The commission accepted the forest department's report as a factual and detailed account of the damage and directed the MSEDCL officials to pay the full ₹10.27 lakh as compensation, with 9 per cent annual interest from the date the report was filed until the actual payment. Apart from the compensation, the MSEDCL staffers have also been instructed to pay ₹40,000 for the farmer's mental and physical distress and ₹10,000 for the expenses incurred due to the incident.
The commission has set a deadline of 45 days from the order date for the payment to be made. This decision underscores the responsibility of power companies to ensure their operations do not cause harm to agricultural activities [1][2][4].
Sources: [1] India News, [2] Hindustan Times, [4] Indian Express.
The sports news outlets in India reported the decision made by the consumer commission in Nagpur, where four MSEDCL employees were ordered to compensate a farmer for the damage caused to his bamboo crop, which was used for selling in a semi-dry state. This incident highlights the importance of power companies maintaining necessary standards to prevent harm to agricultural activities, including crops like bamboo, in sports-related general news.
