Kochi, Oct 9 (PTI) The Keralam State Human Rights Commission on Friday directed the government to ensure local-level participation in monitoring unauthorised cables drawn through electric poles to prevent accidents involving two-wheeler riders.
The order was issued in a case registered by the commission on its own based on a news report about an incident on August 21, 2024, in which Kalamassery native Abdul Azeez was injured after getting entangled in a cable wire while riding a two-wheeler in Kochi.
Commission chairperson Justice Alexander Thomas said the standard operating procedure (SOP) being prepared by the government to regulate cable installations should include local-level monitoring committees in addition to the district and taluk-level panels already envisaged.
The Additional District Magistrate heads the district-level monitoring committee, while the Tahsildar heads the taluk-level panel.
The commission said local-level committees are necessary to enable residents to intervene effectively and report violations.
The commission directed the government to constitute local-level monitoring committees in all Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) electrical section offices across the state.
Assistant engineers or sub-engineers, sub-inspectors or assistant sub-inspectors of police, secretaries or assistant engineers of local self-government institutions, ward members or councillors, and secretaries or presidents of residents’ associations should be members of these committees, the order said.
The government should issue an order formalising the revised SOP within six weeks, with a maximum period of two months, the commission said.
It also directed the government to publicise the SOP and the functioning of the monitoring committees and publish the revised procedure on its website.
The Commission ordered that the Principal Secretary of the Energy Department should submit an action-taken report within two months.
The Commission also asked the KSEB to consider installing clamps on electric poles to secure cables.
It said cable installation should be permitted only through the clamps and the cables should be firmly secured to prevent them from coming loose.
The system would also facilitate the removal of unauthorised cables, the commission said, directing the KSEB to inspect the matter and submit a report within four months. PTI TBA TBA ADB
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