The electric poles have been grossly misused and abused by the cable operators, high speed net providers, strung with loose hanging cables. The Electricity Department has been in deep sleep all these years and allowed free use of poles by private parties and now has woken up to find them being used without permission. The Department is at grave fault and if some operator or association manages to get Court stay which is likely then the issue of getting poles cleared of hanging wires will get stuck at least for next 20 years. Telephone Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) who is the governing body for cable/high speed net etc is grossly responsible for the mess that has been created by not giving guidelines for drawing wires. BSNL is least bothered as it contracted the work of laying and maintenance to private agencies and doing only the billing part. It is the need of the hour that the government, TRAI step in and take steps to resolve the serious mess created preferably by laying all hanging wires underground rather than going for a separate network of overhead poles.
