Leaning power poles endanger residents

HUBLI: "A leaning power pole and its sagging wires are dangerously close to our balcony. This is the case of some houses in our neighbourhood. We have stopped going to the balcony,'' said S A Hiremath, a resident of Lokappanahakkal in Vidyanagar.
He further explained: "A few months ago a lorry knocked at an electricity pole which caused short circuit at two other nearby poles.Even before the incident, the poles had slanted towards two buildings including ours. After the incident the poles further slanted towards the balconies.''
Even after repeated oral complaints to the electricity department to restore these poles, no one has turned up to address our concerns, he said.
This is not an isolated case. With poles slanting dangerously close to the sides of buildings and the high voltage wires loosely suspended towards ground due to wear and tear in many localities, the citizens are living in constant fear as a heavy downpour could make the situation worse.
It isn't the question of whether these slanting poles will come down. It is a question of when, said harried residents.
In some congested areas, the electricity poles are erected in unsafe places --- close to buildings --- due to lack of sufficient space by the roadside. For instance, Lokappanahakkal, Mantur Road, Settlement, Sheela Colony in Hubli, and Kurbur Oni, Talwar Oni, Maratha Galli in Dharwad need urgent civic attention.
Devendra P, a resident of Talwar Oni in Dharwad said: "As the high voltage electricity wires are very close to our balcony we don't allow our children to go to the balcony.''
B B Patil, executive engineer, Hescom, told TOI that they had received some complaints about the dangerous state of electric poles in residential areas. "I will direct our officers concerned to inspect such areas and take immediate measures to replace unsafe poles.''