A file photo of Bescom team attending to dangling electric wires on Mysuru Road, in Bengaluru.
| Photo Credit: Murali Kumar K
Walking on the streets of Bengaluru has turned into a scary affair due to dangling wires and exposed electricity infrastructure. In many localities, tangled wires can be seen dangling from electricity poles and even streetlight poles. At times, cables snap and fall on the pavement making pedestrians apprehensive about walking on footpaths.
Chandrashekhar Rao, a resident of Basavanagudi, said, “These wires are dangerous. In our locality, they have been like this for at least a month. During the monsoon, it is even harder to dodge these wires. Additionally, the wires and cables lie so low that they block the gates and doors of residences.”
Apart from the danger posed by wires, the doors of several Ring Main Units (RMU), which are set up on footpaths, are open. It is not unusual for wires to be sneaking out of them. On many transformers, the doors of control boxes are open.
Srikanth S., a private employee at a finance firm in Shivajinagar, said, “In an area as busy as Shivajinagar, wires are all over the place. Doors of electricity-related infrastructure fixed on footpaths are open. I really do not feel safe when high-voltage devices are lying open on the road. During rains, it is a nightmare.”
Besides these areas, similar complaints have come from Sadashivnagar, Hebbal, Indiranagar, Majestic, Jakkur, Yeshwantpur and Rajajinagar.
“Wires have been dangling in our locality for at least four months. During monsoon, it can be hazardous to walk on the footpath,” said Ramya Shridhar, a resident of Yeshwantpur.
Mahantesh Bilagi, Managing Director, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), said, “We are continuously identifying and rectifying infrastructure that pose a hazard to pedestrians. Once we receive a complaint on our helpline number (1912), we attend to the problem immediately.”
Along with electricity lines, Optical Fibre Cables (OFC) have made the situation worse. In 2023, Energy Minister K. J. George had ordered removal of all the OFCs that were passing over electrical wires.
Mr. Bilagi said, “Accordingly, we have removed OFCs, which were going over our poles. The ones that are on streetlight poles should be taken care of by BBMP.”
(With inputs from Diya Vinekar and Smruti S.)