BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal on Wednesday held a meeting here to find a swift solution to the electricity cables precariously hanging in the lanes and by-lanes of his Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency.
Held at the National Club, Fatehpuri, the meeting was attended by former Executive Director of Power Grid Corporation B S Pandey, along with his team, representatives from the traders’ associations and RWAs of all the areas of the constituency.
The biggest challenge to this task the continuous commercial activities in the narrow lanes of as it won’t be possible to carry out the work without disrupting.
Addressing the meeting, Khandelwal said, “During my election campaign, I had promised to replace these wires with underground cables. This meeting has been called to prepare a roadmap to rid every street from the hanging wires without harming commercial activities and without inconveniencing people as a step towards fulfilling this promise.”
These wires, he said were installed decades ago taking into consideration the requirement of electricity at that time. Over the years, they have grown rapidly in keeping with the load which has increased by multiple times.
The major problem is wearing off the coating on these weak wires in many places due to the increased load, creating a risk of breakage. “Consequently, the hanging electric wires in Old Delhi markets are a constant threat to life and property and are a direct or indirect cause of frequent fire accidents. It is crucial to eliminate this grave problem, and I will resolve it soon,” Khandelwal assured.
He mentioned about various suggestions made during the meeting on which a consensus has been reached to get rid of the menace of the hanging wires.
Based on today’s discussions, former Executive Director of Power Grid Corporation Mr. B S Pandey and his team will prepare a project report incorporating the suggestions. This report will propose multiple options, and Khandelwal will present it to the Delhi government to find a permanent solution to this problem.
On this occasion, Pandey said the report would include practical suggestions based on the ground reality and the geographical situation of the area, as well as the ongoing commercial and residential activities.
While preparing the report, all available options, including underground cabling, will be considered to provide easy and disruption-free solutions to eliminate these wires, he said.