Knotty Affairs: Tangled power, telephone cables a blot on Partap Nagar in Amritsar

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, June 23

Tangled wires of PSPCL Internet company, electric cables and telecommunication wires are a blot on the Pratap Nagar area here. Residents and commuters also face inconvenience due to dangling wires in the area.

The large wires hanging from poles not only pose a danger to residents, but also look ugly. Many telecommunication companies use PSPCL poles to hang their wires. Now there is almost every telecom company providing services in the Partap Nagar area. Fiber wires of four major companies have created a mess on the poles. Shopkeepers and residents of commercial pockets of the area are irked over the maze of wires passing in front of their stores and houses.

Mahinder Singh, a trader of the area, said internet fibre wires of different companies, cables of television and power supply wires pass dangerously in front of their buildings. In the narrow streets and congested markets, these bunches of wires dangerously cross over shops. However, the stock reply is all these cables belong to different departments. The government should put all these wires in a duct or underground.”

Ashok Kumar, a resident, said, “Cables of different sizes pass closely to their commercial outlets and residences. They not only obscure the view of the facade of their buildings, but also give a sordid look to the area. Besides, it also points to lopsided workmanship.”

He said PSPCL and other agencies having their cable network must employ modern quality techniques like laying cables underground or ducting all of them in a hollow pipe.

MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi said earlier there was no proper policy for these telecommunication companies, but now the MC was planning to write to all the companies to make proper arrangements to install wires or pay to the MC for using infrastructure.