Walking on footpaths may get less dangerous

The city’s footpaths are set to get more pedestrian-friendly as scraping past protruding pipes of Distribution Transformer Centres is soon going to be a thing of the past. The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) will start replacing the existing Group Operating Switches (GOS) across the city with new, redesigned ones that promise not to hinder the movement of pedestrians.

Bescom was prompted to take the step after being alerted by self-help groups, such as Whitefield Rising and The Ugly Indian, to accidents involving pedestrians and vehicles. The power utility has already replaced 1,000 such GOS in two sub-divisions – Sahakarnagar and Banaswadi – on a pilot basis, Bescom Managing Director Pankaj Kumar Pandey announced at a press conference on Wednesday.

The process of replacement started about nine months ago. With close to 60,000 GOS in the city, it will take about a year to complete the process, beginning with the central business district and crowded areas, he added.

The new design elevates the rod from the ground level. Instead of operating it at the waist-level, linemen will now operate it at the chest-level, Mr. Pandey explained.

Bescom is claiming a patent for the design, along with Rajasimha, a retired engineer from the Indian Space Research Organisation. It is planning to sell the model to other States.

To redesign transformer

It is not just GOS rods that are undergoing a redesign. Bescom has invited ideas to redesign its transformers to make them “pedestrian-friendly, good looking, safe and potential avenues for revenue”. It is organising a contest with a prize amount of Rs. 5 lakh. It may be recalled that Bescom has been pulled up by the Karnataka High Court for not removing transformers out of the city’s footpaths.