Pune's Overhead Cable Mess: Lives in Danger as PMC Fails to Act
Pune’s Overhead Cable Mess: Lives in Danger as PMC Fails to Act
Mrudula Narale,
pune 20 may 2025 : Pune’s skyline is growing more and more sullied by a hazardous jumble of overhead cables, threatening the lives of residents and revealing the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) inability to tackle the crisis. Illegal cables, carelessly draped over electricity poles, trees, and buildings, are a familiar sight, posing hazards to pedestrians and motorists alike. Frayed wires hang threateningly, posing safety hazards and making driving on the city’s roads more difficult. In spite of attempts to stem this problem, the PMC’s efforts have been slowed down by logistical issues and vagueness in tackling the issue, leaving the public at risk and the city dealing with a knotty situation.
The civic agency has been long requiring the placement of cables beneath the ground to avoid visual distraction and ensure safety. However, private operators have flouted these regulations, installing over 200 kilometers of unauthorized overhead cables, costing the PMC significant revenue. The electricity department, tasked with removing these illegal wires, faces operational hurdles, including a shortage of equipment. With only 13 cranes—six of which are rented—the department struggles to keep up with the scale of the problem. Cable cutting activities, usually being planned in afternoons following regular maintenance, are commonly being delayed, as was recently witnessed in the case of a delay in the Sinhagad region because of crane non-availability. Lack of a specific mechanism for cable cutting also adds to the problem, making enforcement activities fragmented.
PMC’s sky sign department is vested with power to take legal action against defaulters under Sections 244 and 245 of municipal bylaws. Though enforcement drives have been initiated, such as a special drive to remove dangerous cables, the pace is slow. The civic body has impounded close to 20 truckloads of illegal cables in 2024, but the number of violations remains so high that it overwhelms efforts. Sources indicate that the uncontrolled spread of overhead cables has caused economic losses in crores to the PMC, highlighting the need for a strong solution.
This inconsistency has been criticized and has brought into question the civic body’s seriousness in implementing its own regulations. Residents and activists have also raised concerns on platforms such as X, citing the risk of hanging wires, especially with ongoing metro construction and constant digging of roads, leaving overhead cables a recurring hazard.
The PMC is now pressed to devise a holistic policy to address this crisis. A planned deep clean drive is intended to intensify efforts at cable removal, but without proper resources and a well-delegated responsibility matrix between departments, the city stands to be stuck in this dangerous situation. As the people of Pune walk through the streets with dangerous wires scattered everywhere, the demand for swift action becomes increasingly loud, calling for the PMC to act on safety and restore order to the city’s skyline.
