Exposed live wires on the roads

Last year a woman and a child died due to electrocution when a puddle on the road came in contact with an exposed live wire during rain. In 2014, a rickshaw puller died from electrocution at Rahattarpul in Chittagong city when he stepped on a live wire on a road. Though the majority of cases of fatalities and accidents due to exposed live electric cable on the roads remain unreported, the obvious danger cannot elude our understanding.

This newspaper published a photo yesterday showing live wires hanging loose from a transformer in Dhaka's Bir Uttam Kazi Nuruzzaman Road.  The sight is much too common in most roads in Dhaka. Electric cables have been set up in an unplanned way throughout the country. Over time, these wires end up hanging low over the heads of pedestrians. The risk is aggravated during the rainy season. 

Yet, for years the authorities have remained slow in addressing this problem. No matter how much precaution is observed by people to avoid stepping onto or coming in contact with the cables, it is the responsibility of the authorities to make sure that the danger is not present in the first place. We urge the responsible authorities to take necessary steps towards solving this recurrent public safety issue. Active efforts should be launched to check for hazardous exposed live electric cables and fix them. At the same time, we would request pedestrians to be extra cautious, especially during the rains, to avoid live wires and to report it to the local authorities as soon as possible.