The danger of coming into contact with high-tension cables strewn on roads in crowded areas is real at Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam (JBVNL) command areas in and around the steel city, with private agencies outsourced for electrification jobs allegedly leaving them on the ground uncovered.

Live power cables of 11 KV can be seen lying on the ground in Adityapur industrial area, residential areas in Parsudih, Azadnagar and Dimna Road in Mango and Bagbera. Electrification work is being carried out under Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (RAPDRP) by private agencies such as Voltas, ILFS and Sun City Enterprises under Jamshedpur circle that covers Adityapur industrial area, Jamshedpur and Ghatshila.

Direct human contact apart, there are other risks. At Adityapur industrial area, truckers said they had driven their vehicles over cables on the road. At places such as Mango, Parsudih and Bagbera, people dump garbage on the road and set fire to it. If live cables are included, a major disaster could erupt.

Trucker Sukhdev Singh told this reporter on Thursday that they had no choice but to use the road. “If cables are lying on it, what can we do. I am not riding a bike that I can avoid it,” he said, admitting he drive over a cable earlier in the morning.

Md Tazuddin, a resident of Mango-Pardih Road in Azadnagar, said though cables were insulated, people tended to set fire on garbage where cables could also be burnt. “If something like this happens, it can be a major disaster,” he said.

Contacted, JBVNL (Jamshedpur circle) superintending engineer Sudhanshu Kumar confirmed that leaving high-tension power lines exposed to open air on the ground was “highly objectionable”. “A high-tension cable has to be laid 3-feet deep in the earth and properly covered. If cables are lying exposed, we will inquire into it. I will find out which of these three private agencies is engaged in laying cable and has left it open on the ground instead of getting it covered,” Kumar, also nodal officer for supervising electrification work under RAPDRP, told this paper.

He added that risks apart, high-tension cables were costly items. “If it any are damaged due to exposure or negligence, JBVNL will hold the agencies concerned responsible,” he said.