Unattended electric poles along Kollam-Theni Highway pose safety threat

Charumoodu: Electric poles dumped along both sides of the Kollam-Theni National Highway are becoming a serious hazard, causing a spate of road accidents especially at nights.

These electric pole pillars were offloaded at various spots along the highway several months ago and have remained unattended since. Similar piling of poles has been reported along the K-P Road too. Recently, two deaths were reported near the Sanitorium  when a car and a motorbike rammed these pillars during night hours.

Just the other day, two youths were injured in a motorcycle accident on the Kollam-Theni NH near Chunakkara. Most of the locations where these poles have been dumped lack proper street lighting, further compounding the risk.

Previously, such poles were offloaded on less busy roads or in areas with wider shoulders. They were also placed at intervals of one kilometre or more. These days, however, 15 to 30 poles are often stacked together on either side of the road and many of these are lying at accident-prone spots. In some places, the piled poles block visibility to such an extent that vehicles approaching from the opposite direction are not visible.

As accidents continue to rise, public demand is mounting for the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to take immediate steps to shift these poles to safer locations.