Officials yet to wake up to looming danger

KOCHI:  A couple of days after the incident in which a father and son died of electrocution in Kozhikode because of the careless attitude of the authorities, the officials in the city are yet to wake up to such dangers. The city is still ridden with cables dangerously dangling, creeping or on the ground.Officials say that most of the cables are not dangerous and there’s no need for worry. Probably, the father and child thought the same. Residents fear that the chance of a similar incident happening in the city cannot be ruled out.Sherin Xavier, a shop owner at Kaloor said, “Most of these lines lying on the ground are old and unused. Now the authorities are laying the cables underground, but we cannot guarantee that all of them are harmless. Sometimes, one can be a death trap.”KSEB sources said that they alone are not responsible for the lines dangling from the posts, since many of the private channels have illegally set up their cables through the electric posts. “Now that we are laying all our lines underground  in the city, such risks can be avoided.”A resident living opposite Greets Public School, Kaloor, said, “Some of these cables lie dangerously close to our home. I have warned the cable people who came to collect the bill yesterday that if they don’t raise the cables to a certain height, I would have to register a complaint. Usually students crowd around in the area and this poses a grave danger for them.” Also, some residents are peeved at the fact that the authorities are least bothered about the lines lying dangerously on the ground. But even the authorities have not reached a consensus on who is responsible for removing the lines.An official with BSNL said, “The lines which are lying on the ground in the city are not necessarily ours. Since 99 per cent of our lines are now laid underground, there is hardly any chance of them being ours.”Xavier also said that the public turn a blind eye to this. “If we had cut a branch of a tree when it was causing a nuisance to the public, activists would have lashed at us. Why can’t the activists see this simple problem and address it,” he asks.