Worker dies repairing TLDP 4 dam at Kalijhora

YOWAN MOTHAY, EOI, KALIMPONG, JANUARY 9, 2024 : A worker died while engaged in a repair work of the dam at the Teesta Low Dam 4 project at Kalijhora near Kalimpong on Tuesday. He had entered the water to carry out the repair job.

According to the details of the incident available till the evening, Siddhartha Savita (28), a resident of Agra, Uttar Pradesh, working with a private contractor’s company, had entered the water with oxygen. But due to some reason he was overcome by the strong flow of the water and pinned to the wall. As a result, Siddharth died on the spot, his colleague Sandeep Kumar said.

An official of the contractor’s firm said Siddharth had been working in the company for the past one year. He had carried out the same type of repair work many times in Kalijhora and was skilled in repairing hydropower projects under water. He died, however, due to an accident. The water from the dam was released to extricate Siddharth, but he had already died. It was suspected that he could also have been overwhelmed by the cold water of river Teesta.

The Rambhi Police recovered the body of Siddharth from the project site and sent it to the Kalimpong District Hospital for post mortem.