Ranchi Municipal Corporation gives seven-day ultimatum on cable encroachments raising safety concerns

Ranchi: The Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) on Thursday issued a week’s ultimatum to the cable operators and telecom operators in the city to furnish their valid permissions for the cables installed on electric poles. The move, RMC officials said, is aimed at reducing safety risks by removing sagging and tangled overhead cables in busy areas of the city.“Unauthorised installation of cable wires and optical fibre cables on electric poles is affecting traffic. There is also a possibility of accidents due to hanging wires. All cable operators are directed to submit valid permission documents within seven days. In the absence of valid documents, the cables will be removed and seized, and full responsibility will lie with the cable agency owners,” the civic body said in a statement.The development comes as busy roads, crowded intersections and busy crossings have turned into danger zones due to tangled overhead cables hanging from electric poles, trees, hoardings and even traffic posts. Residents and commuters say the city’s skyline of wires has become a daily safety hazard, with loose and sagging cables creating the risk of accidents and structural collapses. Several key areas of the city, including Doranda, Hinoo and Harmu, traffic police kiosks are being used as cable storage points, with multiple wires coiled, tied and routed through them. “The traffic post is supposed to be for visibility and control, but now it’s just a bundle of wires. No one stands there anymore,” said Nita kumara, a commuter near Doranda College.