Mumbai: You have made city a mess of wires, activists tell BMC

During visits to flyovers in the city, mid-day found swathes of wires and cables cast off next to them, like this one on the Vikhroli (East) flyover along the Eastern Express Highway. Pic/Satej Shinde

Civic activists have slammed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for what appears to be the dumping of wires and fibre optic cables at various locations in the city. Activists have called for a policy to manage the scores of wires dumped near flyovers or left hanging all over the city, thereby defacing it.

BMC prepared a policy for city beautification in 2022 and started painting and illustrating on walls and erecting murals. According to civic documents related to proposals and amendments, the BMC has made a provision of Rs 2,200 crore for the project, of which around Rs 1,000 crore has already been spent.

According to civic records, in the late 1990s, the BMC issued orders to lay all of the city's cables underground. But no specific policy was prepared for TV, mobile and internet broadband cables which dominate the city's expanse.

During visits to several flyovers in the city, mid-day found wires and cables tossed nearby. Civic activist Anil Galgali said that the cables can cause fatal accidents. "BMC spends crores on colouring and lighting up the city, but ignores these cables that disturb Mumbai's beauty and pose a fatal threat to its residents," Galgali said.

"Every flyover is like a dump yard for cables," said Godfrey Pimenta. "If one of the cables breaks, it can cause a fatal accident. BMC has a plan for painting and lighting, but not for these other things. BMC should prepare a policy for handling and managing these cables," Pimenta added. Sharing his observations on city roads, Pimenta said that wires and cables bunched together are often tied on street lights.

"These cables are death trapped mainly for bikers," said civic activist Sanjay Gurav. "Why doesn't the BMC have rules and regulations to manage these cables? It has money to colour walls but no policy on hanging cables?" he added. BMC chief IS Chahal did not respond to mid-day's messages on the issue.

Troubling incidents

In September 2019, the Mumbai Fire Brigade faced difficulties in the firefighting at Tayeb Building, Abdul Rehman Street in south Mumbai due to overhanging wires. In a 2018 incident at Charni Road, a dumper dragged a hanging wire across the road leading to the collapse of a street light pole. The pole in turn snapped an overhead wire. The incident led to 54 trains getting cancelled during peak hours.