KOCHI: In a third accident of the same nature in the last one month, an unsuspecting biker was seriously injured in an accident on Sunday evening when his bike got entangled in a dangling cable. Anilkumar, a Maradu native, was riding his bike near Vennala when an electric cable dangling freely from above entangled with his bike.
He fell from the bike and was seriously injured. According to a shopkeeper in the area, an electric cable from the pole snagged on the bike Anilkumar was riding and he went out of control. He was rushed to a private hospital in Palarivattom immediately. The area councillor, Valsalakumari, said that she was unaware of such an incident and refused to comment.
This is the third accident reported due to dangling cables in the last one month in the city. Two weeks ago, a father-son duo had a narrow escape after the man got trapped in a dangling cable while travelling in his two-wheeler at Thevakkal.
A few weeks before that, Sabu, a resident of Karikkamuri, fell off his bike after being snagged by a low-hanging cable on Justice Chandrasekhara Menon Road in Ernakulam South. In both incidents, the motorists suffered serious injuries.
Meanwhile, officials of the Kochi Corporation said that proper upkeep of overhead cable wires meant for television, internet service providers, and electricity is the duty of the concerned service providers.
“Kochi Mayor had conducted several meetings with the operators regarding the issue. Yet they fail to act, and corporation end up doing the job even though it’s not our responsibility,” the official added. He also said that in the last two months, the corporation has removed around 30,000 kg of cable wires in the city, and the work is ongoing. “The accident happened despite the corporation taking adequate measures,” the official said.
Opposition leader Antony Kureethara said that the first council meeting of the corporation had discussed the danger these cable wires pose and decisions were taken to remove them. “Kochi mayor had promised that he would discuss the matter with the cable operators. He had assured us that the cables would be tagged with a code and the contact details of the service provider ,” said Kureethara. The corporation must take measures to avoid such mishaps, said Kureethara.