Mesh of wires still a threat in Kolkata neighbourhoods – Times of India

Kolkata: In January 2018, a teenager from Beniapukur’s Kasaipara had died after his bike’s wheels got entangled in a mesh of cables dumped on the road near Park Circus bridge. On Wednesday, a 26-year-old youth from Ultadanga met with the same fate after his bikes front wheel got caught in the cable mesh near Salt Lake’s Baisakhi Island. Behala resident Arijit Bose and Soumik Bag of Garia have had close shaves. Both had somehow managed to avoid an accident after running into a mesh of cables. Now, the two ride very carefully when on the left lane.
“Dead cable wires are a potential life threat. If one is riding fast and the wheels get caught, the rider will get thrown and can suffer a fatal injury,” said Bose. Bag had encountered the problem while riding from Garia to Tollygunge. Luckily, he was driving slowly and the road was relatively empty. “I could have been run over that day,” said Bag, shuddering on recounting the incident.
Yet, dead optic fiber and co-axle cables continue to be dumped on the road, posing a threat to pedestrians, bikers and cyclists.
On Thursday, TOI did the rounds of the city and found heaps of cables near Galiff Street-Chitpore Road intersection, College Street-Surya Sen Street intersection, Ganesh Chandra Avenue-Central intersection, Park Street-Free School Street intersection; at multiple spots on Camac Street (near Vardaan market, WBIDC office and 22 Camac Street shopping arcade).
In most places, overhead cables had been dressed and discarded cables lay on the road or wrapped around road edge railings with loops protruding on to the road.
Both chief minister Mamata Banejree and KMC board of administrators chairman Firhad Hakim have on multiple occasions warned cable operators to remove the mess. On Thursday, too, Hakim warned that KMC would take stringent measures against those dumping cables on the road and pavements. “KMC is willing to extend a helping hand to operators in cleaning up the mess. But we will not tolerate such callous behaviour,” Hakim said.
All Bengal Cable & Broadband Operators’ United Forum joint convenor Tapash Das said they were working in coordination with the civic body to clean up the scene. “Usually, we dress the cables and the mesh of cables is cleared the following day. If someone alerts us on cables that have not been cleared yet, we will definitely act on it,” he said.
(With inputs from Subhojyoti Kanjilal & Biplab Mondal)