Loose wire menace must be dealt with swiftly

Representational image. Pic/iStock

A 35-year-old biker suffered severe injuries when a wire hanging from a hoarding got entangled around his neck while he was riding on the Western Express Highway in Bandra West. He told this paper that he was living his second life as doctors had managed to save him. The Bandra police have registered a first information report and are investigating the incident.

The Andheri resident sustained an eight-centimetre cut across his neck.

The biker was riding home from Bandra. As he approached the U-bridge, a loose wire caught on his neck, snapping into two pieces as it entangled him. He started bleeding heavily from his neck and rode himself into a hospital after unsuccessfully trying to flag down vehicles for help.

The cut was dangerously close to his veins. He is now recovering though eating and moving his neck is painful.

It must be noted that according to the injured person, there are more wires on the highway. This incident should propel a thorough and quick check of the highway. Wires dangling from hoardings must be brought to the immediate notice of authorities, as these pose a very real danger as the report shows.

The company responsible for the erection of the billboard needs to be held responsible and penalised for hanging wires. Let us not wait for an incident to occur and then act as that is the pattern, unfortunately, where we tend to take reactive action, rather than be proactive.

The vigilance must start when the hoarding is being erected itself, with those responsible ensuring loose wires are cut or tucked away. With billboards now being inspected after the shocking Ghatkopar tragedy, loose wires should also looked into. Just like measures were put in place after people's throats were slit by kite string, hanging wires also need to be tackled swiftly and with absolute will.