‘Delayed underground cabling leaves roads in a mess’

The Karnataka government had given a nod to a big project of converting overhead electric transmission lines in Bengaluru into underground cables at an estimated cost of around Rs 5,000 crores four years ago. The project, which falls under the supervision of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (Bescom), has got delayed for various reasons.

Recently, the officials claimed that 80-85% of work on the project has been completed and it will soon start functioning, promising hassle-free power supply to the citizens of Bengaluru. DH spoke to a few Bengalureans to know their expectations from the project and how they see its impact on their lives and the city.

Read | Bescom's safety mission: Many more miles to go

Manjunath Naidu, a political activist from Hebbal is sceptical about Bescom’s claim about completing 80% work of the project. He also feels that underground work in Bengaluru is not at all sustainable because of the lack of coordination between various authorities such as BBMP, Bescom, BWSSB, BSNL etc. “Before starting any underground project, Bescom should form a coordination committee of these authorities and lay out a plan. For example, if Bescom digs the ground without the attention of BSNL, they may damage the OFC cables or other lines,” he notes.

He continues, “Bescom plans to dig by the sides of the main roads; there are no separate concrete ducts planned. There are already several underground lines such as OFC cables, sanitary lines, water lines etc.” He stresses that Bescom’s underground cables can be more dangerous than the overground wires if they go ahead with the current plan.

Shiv Kumar V Naidu, General Secretary of Domlur Layout Residents Welfare Association, says: “This undergrounding of electric cables is a good project and well-intentioned on paper. But in reality, Bescom is failing miserably in its execution. In many places, they have randomly dug out the roads without taking proper care and giving awareness to people, which causes a lot of obstacles, especially during this monsoon time.”

He complains that the authorities are not doing the project in a time-bound manner and the ongoing work is slow and unplanned. “They claim that the underground cables will reduce electrocution threats, but now while construction is going on, they are not covering the live wires. Several stray dogs have died biting them. Random and unplanned digging in many areas is causing road accidents too,” he adds.

Dhanulal, an R&D engineer, says: “The underground cables are not good when it comes to monsoon season. We are seeing another face of Bengaluru when it rains—the dug-up roads and potholes. BBMP and Bescom should address these issues to make it easy for citizens to commute.”

“And all the facilities are for the benefit of citizens, not to put them in trouble. Proper infrastructure is needed in Bengaluru to address all these monsoon-related issues because one is related to another,” adds Dhanulal.

However, Arvind Keerthi, a resident of Brookefield Layout in Kundalahalli, has a different take. “The power cuts during monsoon season won’t last long at our locality because Bescom takes care of all the maintenance work on time.”

He says road-digging by Bescom has always been a problem. “It is an ongoing process and we need to address it. But in our locality, Bescom and the residents came together to fix the road damages caused by broken cables. So I feel the service of Bescom is better than earlier,” he adds.