Bescom under fire! Rs 10L for transformer blast victims

Energy Minister V. Sunilkumar has announced a solatium of Rs 10 lakh each to the father and daughter who died when a electric transformer exploded near Manganahalli in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

Replying to S. Suresh Kumar during zero hour in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, the minister said while the father died on the spot, his daughter whose marriage was supposed to happen at a choultry they had gone to book, succumbed to her injuries on Thursday.

The 250 kV transformer exploded following leakage of oil after the lead wire got burnt at 3:10 pm. Sunilkumar said people had called the Bescom helpline number 1912 to complain about smoke coming out of the transformer around 12:30 pm. It is not known why it was not repaired till 3:20 pm when the transformer exploded.