Operators fail to spare Jawaharlal Nehru, loose overhead wires hang near his statue

Manmeet Singh Gill

Amritsar, July 25

The statue of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru at the Lawrence road, is surrounded from all sides by loose hanging black cables put up by private Internet, telecom and cable network service providers.

The private companies are using electricity and street light poles, trees and even walls of buildings. We are lucky that they have still not used statues of freedom fighters to tie their cables. Suresh Kumar, a shopkeeper

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A few of these cables are just in front of the face of the statue, installed as a mark of respect towards the legendary freedom fighter and the first Prime Minister. The statue stands under a canopy of black cables, thanks to private companies that do not care for the beauty of the city or respect for great personalities.

“The private companies are using electricity and streetlight poles, trees and even walls of buildings. We are lucky that they have still not used statues of freedom fighters to tie their cables,” said a shopkeeper Suresh Kumar.

As in other areas of the city, hundreds of cables criss-crossing the sky can be seen over the open parking space at the Nehru Shopping Complex, named after Pandit Nehru. The Local Bodies Department had recently installed a new fountain on the back side of the statue but no one has so far seen the cables hanging just a few inches away from the face of the statue.

The shopkeepers said in market places like Nehru Shopping Complex, private companies could have easily used ducts alongside roofs to lay their cables.

“But instead here too, the senseless way of tying cables from this corner to that corner, has been used,” said a resident Satnam Singh.

The residents said the maze of cables was distorting the skyline. “Nehru Shopping Complex was the first biggest shopping centre developed by the Improvement Trust. It looks majestic but black cables have overshadowed everything here,” rued a shopkeeper.