Pune: Citizens Demand State-Level Cable Policy As PMC Fails To Tackle Cable Menace
Pune: Citizens Demand State-Level Cable Policy As PMC Fails To Tackle Cable Menace
Pune, June 17, 2025: In a strong appeal to the Guardian Minister of Pune, civic activist Qaneez Sukhrani, Convenor of the Association of Nagar Road Citizens Forum, has urged the State Government to formulate a comprehensive Cable Policy within the next three months. The demand arises amid growing concern over Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) inefficiency in managing the rising threat of overhead and ground-level cables crisscrossing the city.
According to Sukhrani, the situation poses a grave danger to pedestrians and especially two-wheeler riders, with cables hanging dangerously low or lying exposed on roads and footpaths. She alleges that the PMC conducts irregular drives without designating a responsible department, while no nodal officer is held accountable at the ward level.
The letter points fingers at multiple offenders—private cable and internet operators, MSEDCL, and even illegal users of streetlight electricity. A major grievance lies against operators who avoid the PMC-mandated ₹12,000 per metre underground cable laying cost by hanging cables overhead. Furthermore, MAHAPREIT contractors are accused of trenching roads without proper restoration, worsening the damage.
Shocking figures in PMC’s compiled report reveal unpaid dues from telecom and internet operators: ₹1,325 crore from telecom companies and ₹1,788 crore from TV and broadband providers.
The forum also questions why cables were excluded from the ongoing “Ward Office Deep Clean Drive.” It has called on the Guardian Minister to take the issue to the State Cabinet for urgent policy formation to eliminate these risks and restore public safety.
