The maze of cables that dangle over roads have turned walking and driving in Salt Lake into a dangerous game of Russian roulette.
Thousands of motorists and pedestrians risk their lives and limbs every day as bundles of dud and snipped cables lie across roads and walkways in the city. Salt Lake is no different.
On Saturday night, a 27-year-old Salt Lake resident who was returning home after dinner at a friend’s house fell off his scooter because of a hanging cable. The cable hit his helmet and he instinctively slammed the brakes, following which the two-wheeler skidded and hit a pavement.
Rishabh Sinha, a resident of BL Block, said he was headed home and just rode past a fuel station near tank No. 9 when he heard a loud noise and felt something crash against his helmet before hitting his face.
“I was wearing an open-mask helmet and heard a loud noise before something hit my face. I pressed the brakes hard. The next thing I remember was that I was lying on theroad. Other motorists and passersby helped me get up,” said Sinha.
“It was only after I got up that I realised that a cable that was hanging dangerously low over the road had hit my face and the accident happened because of that. Fortunately, the helmet took the brunt of the cable hit as well as the crash. These must be removed from the roads before they kill someone,” Sinha said.
On Sunday, The Telegraph saw a maze of wires lying on roads in all three sectors of the township.
Broadway Road, one of the busiest thoroughfares in Salt Lake that connects Salt Lake with EM Bypass, had wires strewn across both flanks. The median dividers had coils of cables that can trip anyone trying to cross the road on foot.
A 1km-long stretch of Broadway Road, between the SAI Complex and the EZCC complex, has a median divider that is strewn with wires. At several places, the wires extend into the roads and have bent lamp posts.
In BJ Block, wires hang dangerously over roads. Several long pieces of cables were spotted lying on walkways.
In all these places, cables were seen clumped around lamp posts and other street furniture, some of which had bent because of the weight of the cables. A senior traffic police officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said accidents could happen if any of the lamp posts fell in front of a vehicle.
“All lamp posts are made of metal. If they fall in front of a vehicle, the driver will get no time to press the brakes and an accident is inevitable,” the officer said.
An engineer of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s lighting department said cracks appear in a lamp post because of heavy cables that hang from the top.
“Bundles of cables are heavy. It is possible for a pole to break under its weight,” said the engineer.
An official of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation said they repeatedly requested cable operators to ensure that the cables don’t hang dangerously over roads.
The official admitted that cables were posing a risk in Salt Lake and promised action.
“From now, whenever we find cables on roads or pavements, we will ask our teams to snip them off,” the official said.