A pilot project launched by the Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL) in its Palarivattom section for the removal of unauthorised and unused cables drawn through the electric posts is progressing at a snail’s pace thanks to the extent of cables drawn haphazardly. The project is also said to be holding up other routine functions of the section office.
KSEBL had designed it as a pilot project with plans to expand it across the State if found successful. When the project was launched a couple of months back, it was anticipated that it would be completed in a matter of days. After all, only a 2km stretch between Palarivattom Junction and Thammanam Junction had to be covered. But a nightmare was in store for the KSEBL staff as every post had an intricately jumbled up maze of cables.
“We were planning to cover 10 to 20 posts a day but we could manage just about three to four posts leaving us with truckloads of cables every day. The disposal of the fibre and coaxial cables with little scrap value and dumped in the section office premises now poses a pollution threat besides taking up valuable space,” said a KSEBL official.
The section office assign employees for the day-long drive four days a week, which has become a drain on its other operations, including the pre-monsoon works. The contractor who was initially assigned the work backed out citing feasibility issues forcing KSEBL to undertake it on its own. Apart from removing unauthorised cables and those no longer in use, the KSEBL provides cross arms for properly drawing cables.
Companies drawing cables through an electric post have to pay KSEBL a rent in the range of ₹380 a year. But the drive revealed that many unauthorised cables were being drawn through the posts without paying the rent. KSEBL has drawn up a schedule based on which cable operators have been asked to be present during the days of the drive.
“However, in many cases the operators themselves had no clue about the whether their own cable was live or in disuse making removal of cables tricky. Cutting live cables affected the service to the customers and the blame was put on us,” said the official.
KSEBL devised the project in the wake of repeated intervention by the High Court following frequent accidents caused by low-hanging cables. A meeting was also convened by the former transport minister Antony Raju in the collectorate to address the issue.
Indiscriminately drawn cables have been hampering the electricity employees from mounting the posts for servicing works. There have also been instances in which linemen had fallen from posts after getting entangled in the maze of cables.
