Authorities ignore dangling cables in city

KOCHI: Locals are worried as the authorities continue to ignore loosely tangled cable wires along roadsides.A tailoring shop owner on M G road Nirmala said, “Dangling cable wires have become common in the city. In fact, every second post on the M G Road has a wire loosely held to it.”The most scary are the wires hanging off the posts. “Recently, a biker enroute the Kaloor-Palarivattom Road came crashing down after he got stuck in a loosely hanging wire. Later, the wire was tied to the post,” said Sam, a resident of Kaloor.However, according to the Corporation officials, the situation is beyond their control as the responsibility to maintain such wires lies with the private parties whose cable wires run through the posts. “It is impossible for us to identify the owners of each and every dangling wire in the city. However, we make it a point to tell the concerned parties once we are informed of such situations,” an official said. According to Kochi Corporation Works Standing Committee Chairperson Soumini Jain, the Corporation has no policy regarding such dangling wires. “Unless it is part of a utility shifting plan with our direct involvement, we have no authority to cut the wires. Only when a possible danger is cited, we gain the liberty to do anything,” she said.However, according to some private players, most of the dangling lone wires in the city belong to BSNL, which had adopted underground cable system long time back. “They never bothered to remove the unless wires,” said an employee with a private cable company. Meanwhile, the Corporation officials also blamed the public for the dangling wires in the city. “Sometimes, people themselves cut the cable wires clustered on the posts. This is impossible to curb,” Soumini added.The sights of wires dangling from the posts can be most seen on the M G Road and in Kaloor, Palarivattom and Kacheripady areas.