Dangling danger: Loose hanging wires in Capital a big safety threat

Tangled clusters of loose wires hanging across market areas and congested lanes remain a common sight in the national capital, raising both safety and civic concerns among residents and shopkeepers.

In East Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar, narrow lanes are crisscrossed by what locals describe as a “nest” of cables, many of them leftover Wi-Fi connections. “These wires have been here since I can remember. In 20 years of running my tea stall here, I’ve only seen them multiply,” said Chandan, a tea shop owner. “When a connection is no longer needed, the wires are just cut, not removed.”

For residents, dangling cables are a daily nuisance. “They’ve hit me in the face a couple of times since they’re almost at my height,” said Harshita, a student living in a paying guest accommodation nearby.

While sipping tea, Sapna, another local, said: “They may not always carry electric current, but incidents of electrocution in the city make them frightening.”

While Laxmi Nagar’s wires may appear harmless, other areas face graver risks. In the packed lanes of Chawri Bazaar, shopkeepers say they live under constant threat.

“These wires have already caused fires in the past. We’ve complained, but no one listens,” said Ramesh, a shopkeeper.

The dangers are not hypothetical. Last year, a 12-year-old boy in southwest Delhi’s Sanjay Colony died after coming into contact with loose wires on an electricity pole.

In another incident last year, a 26-year-old man was electrocuted in central Delhi’s Patel Nagar after touching an iron gate during heavy rain. The police said he might have slipped on the waterlogged street and grabbed the gate for support, unknowingly coming into contact with an exposed motor wire.

Another case that shook the Capital, two years back, was that of Sakshi Ahuja, who died after touching a live wire in a waterlogged area near a railway station parking lot. Just hours earlier, a student Sohail had also lost his life to submerged live wires.

Residents say these tragedies highlight the urgent need for coordinated action between civic agencies and electricity distributors to remove abandoned cables and secure live wires. Until then, the web of hazards above Delhi’s streets remains both a physical and psychological threat.