Pune, 6th February 2026: With illegal overhead cables increasingly disfiguring the city and posing safety risks, the Pune Municipal Corporation has decided to initiate strict action.
The civic administration has directed officials from PMC, BSNL, and MSDCL to jointly prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for enforcement. The report is expected within a month, following which action will be taken across the city.
As per municipal rules, mobile, internet, television, and power cables must be laid underground. However, large-scale use of overhead cables has led to visual pollution, frequent obstructions for pedestrians, and accidents caused by broken wires lying on roads.
Officials say two-wheeler riders are especially vulnerable, while the civic body also suffers heavy revenue losses due to unauthorised installations.
A survey conducted earlier by the PMC revealed the scale of the issue. In 2021, a private agency appointed by the Standing Committee found that thousands of kilometres of cables belonging to private telecom companies had been laid illegally.
If penalties and charges had been recovered as proposed, the civic body could have earned thousands of crores in revenue. A subsequent PMC survey again confirmed the widespread presence of unauthorised overhead cables across Pune.
The issue was discussed in detail at a recent meeting of the City Transformation Cell, where officials noted that the problem is worsening by the day and requires immediate control. Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram instructed departments to finalise a clear enforcement mechanism and submit a report at the earliest.
Speaking on the seriousness of the matter, Ram said he personally witnessed a child fall after getting entangled in a broken cable during an inspection in the Mundhwa area. He said the problem has reached a critical stage and assured that systematic and proper action will now be taken against illegal overhead cables.