Port Blair/Hut Bay, Nov 6: A young life lost, a routine task gone horribly wrong — the death of 26-year-old M. Bhaskar Rao at the Fisheries Department’s Ice Plant in Hut Bay has once again thrown a harsh spotlight on the alarming state of workplace safety in government-run facilities across the islands.
On November 5, Bhaskar Rao fell to his death while carrying out electrical wiring work inside the Ice Plant’s ceiling chamber. According to the FIR (No. 0073/2025) filed at Hut Bay Police Station, he and a co-worker, K. Haridas, were working on the ceiling without safety harnesses or protective gear when a wooden beam gave way. Both men plunged to the floor below — Bhaskar Rao sustaining fatal head injuries. He succumbed during treatment at the local Primary Health Centre.
Police have registered a case under Section 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 against the contractor responsible for the work. The report explicitly notes that no safety equipment was provided, directly leading to the accident.
But the tragedy raises deeper questions: how was such work permitted in a government facility without supervision or basic safety protocols? Should accountability stop at the contractor, or extend to departmental officials who allowed the lapse?
This is not an isolated case. Earlier this year, an Electricity Department worker, Lazarus Kerketta, died under similar circumstances — again, without adequate safety gear. Despite repeated calls for stricter enforcement, little seems to have changed.
Bhaskar Rao’s death is more than a tragic accident — it is a wake-up call. Safety must no longer be treated as optional paperwork. Until every department enforces strict on-site precautions and ensures workers’ protection, such preventable deaths will continue to stain the islands’ record of governance and humanity alike.
