Residents of Marine Drive have urged the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to replace the area’s extensive network of overhead cables with underground ducts, citing safety, maintenance and heritage-related concerns.
The Marine Drive Citizens’ Association has written to BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, seeking a meeting to discuss what it describes as an increasing civic hazard caused by cables running between buildings and across terraces in the heritage precinct.
The association has pointed to underground cabling systems reportedly installed in parts of South Mumbai, including Kala Ghoda, and has requested a similar solution for Marine Drive.
Safety Concerns Raised by Residents
Residents said loose and unused cables create several difficulties, including risks from dangling wires, cable snapping and access to residential buildings by technicians.
Ashok Gupta, vice-president of the association, said some cables appeared to have been left unattended for long periods and raised concerns about unknown individuals seeking access to buildings for cable-related work.
“The cables have been left unattended in our area, and some, I believe, are also not in use anymore. Men come to the building claiming that they need to check the cables; now we don’t know if they have any nefarious intentions, but how can we risk that.”
Gupta also highlighted risks to pedestrians and birds.
“We have seen birds getting trapped by them, and wires snapping and swinging between buildings, posing a severe threat to people’s lives,” he said.
Residents Recall Earlier Incident
Resident Gaurang Parikh recalled an incident during the Covid period when a cable snapped and struck his window.
“The wire had one of those metal clips which clubs multiple wires, that kept hitting the window really hard, which was scary for us. We were lucky that no window was broken. These many cables are really unnecessary.”
Residents have also raised concerns that overhead wiring can obstruct building repairs and affect the visual character of Marine Drive’s Art Deco buildings.
The association has requested removal of abandoned wires and installation of organised underground ducts to address these concerns.
The civic administration’s A Ward, which covers Marine Drive, was contacted regarding the issue but had not responded at the time of publication.
The residents’ demand now awaits consideration by the BMC.
Source: Mid-day
