Hyderabad: Taking a serious note of two electrocution incidents claiming 8 lives in just two days in the city, Deputy Chief Minister and Energy Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu on Tuesday instructed the senior officials to immediately remove the dangerous cable wires hanging from electricity poles across the state on a war footing.

At a review meeting with the officials of the Energy department, the minister sought the details of the threat of cable wires hanging on the poles in the colonies and busy roads to the public safety. Bhatti was serious on cable operators for not removing the cable wires despite issuing notices and being given sufficient time over the past one year.

Expressing anger, the Deputy CM made it clear that there would be no further leniency and directed all officials and staff to focus on removing cable wires from electricity poles immediately.

He further ordered that strict action be taken against anyone setting up unauthorized electricity connections, and such connections should be removed immediately. Bhatti emphasized that electricity connections should only be arranged with the help of Electricity Department staff, since connections made by untrained individuals without technical knowledge are endangering lives. He also directed officials to speed up the underground electricity cable works in Hyderabad city.

The meeting also discussed the Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted by the consultant regarding the underground electricity cable network. In view of abundant water availability through various lift irrigation schemes, Bhatti also reviewed the power supply and consumption related to these projects. Energy department Principal Secretary Naveen Mittal, TRANSCO CMD Krishna Bhaskar, GENCO CMD Harish, TGSPDCL CMD Musharraf Farooqui and TGNPDCL CMD Varun Reddy were present.