Low hanging wires spark fear in citizens

VIJAYAWADA: Apart from sending shockwaves through the city, the Urmilanagar incident makes one wonder whether the low-hanging wires especially those running close to houses could claim more lives in the future.
Many areas in the city face this problem. To make matters worse, high tension cables cut across some residential colonies. The unfortunate deaths on Tuesday have only brought a long-standing issue to the fore.
Residents of Devinagar, Radhanagar, Madhuranagar and Wynchipet literally feel as if a Damocles sword is hanging thanks to overhead power cables which pose a great risk. Most of these colonies are inhabited by poor people. Incidentally, several families evicted from Bhaskaraopet were relocated in Urmilanagar to facilitate the construction of Pandit Nehru Bus station some three decades ago.
"The power lines snap often. Last week, we had a sudden high voltage situation due to which more than six television sets in our colony were damaged. Things like these are constant reminders of the danger in store for us", said G Venkanna, a resident of Urmilanagar.
The colony was named after a senior IAS officer Urmila Subba Rao who served as municipal commissioner here. Last year, a 12-year-old boy was electrocuted in the same locality. Reports say he was trying to extricate his kite from a live wire.
Also in 2014, a student of the Patamata girls high school fell victim to the cables running over the school building. A girl was electrocuted almost two years back in Kanuru when an electric line snapped and fell outside her house. Almost a decade ago, another girl lost her life when a wire snapped in Urmilanagar.
Notwithstanding all these instances, the authorities believe that there is no need to cover wires with insulators to prevent such untoward incidents. "Mostly there are ‘pair lines’ (in the aforementioned areas) without insulators. They can cause death only if someone touches them accidentally," said SPDCL executive engineer Mohan Krishna.
It is noteworthy that CPM state secretariat member Ch Babu Rao blamed AP Transco for the Urmilanagar deaths while highlighting his demand to shift high-tension wires from congested residential areas. " Chandrababu Naidu has said that the new capital in Amaravati will have an underground wiring system. Then why not allow Vijayawada to have a similar facility? Power lines should run underground always for the sake of safety," he emphasised. He also called for insulators to be put on all wires.
TDP MLC Buddha Venkanna promised to provide a permanent solution by taking up the issue with the chief minister. "We will soon be conducting a ‘praja darbar’ in the area with the locals and the officials of the electricity department. We will make sure that the issue is sorted once and for all," he said.
Power cables hang very low in Devinagar, Radhanagar, Madhuranagar and Wynchipet