Bengaluru: Illegal cables trip pedestrians

Bengaluru: Optical fibre cables dangling over electric poles, trees, from one building to another and lying on footpaths is a common sight all over the city. Even TenderSure roads, which have the provision to accommodate these cables underground, are not free from the menace of overhead cables.

These cables pose a danger to pedestrians and sometime even prove to be a death trap for motorists. Years ago once such dangling cable led to the death of a motorist on Double Road.

Many people complain that even while walking on footpaths they have to be mindful about these cables, to avoid tripping over them.

“The fall can sometimes even be fatal. We cannot be cautious all the time. What are the officials doing? Why have they allowed these cables to dangle on trees and poles? If anything untoward happens, will these officials be able to bring back the dead,” remarked Arumugam, a resident of Adugodi.
BBMP had earlier declared that it will do away with all the illegal fibre optic cables and went ahead with a drive. But it came to a halt following protests by the cable
operators.

"We have halted the drive as the OFC operators sought time to take all the overhead cables underground. They have sought more than 3 months for the purpose. Now almost one month has passed, but it looks like the number of overhead cables has actually increased," said a BBMP official.

“We will monitor the progress and then decide on taking suitable action. As enough time has been provided, this time we won't give in to cable operators’ protests. While they have been assuring us of removing overhead cables, but they seem to be putting up more such cables illegally,” the official added.