An open panel box in the neighbourhood park in Sector 14
In Dwarka, open fuse boxes and electrical junction boxes have become a common sight and a cause for concern among residents. Be it roads, parks, DDA’s residential pockets or markets, open fuse boxes with naked wires are hard to miss.
Residents say the authorities, such as DDA, BSES and the municipal corporation, are not serious about the situation. The issue is a serious one as these boxes, on streetlight poles and on internal sector roads, are located not too high up.
Such boxes can be seen on the footpaths from the turn in front of Sector 12 Pocket 5 towards Rockland Hospital and Dwarka International School, passing through many societies, such as Dwarka Kunj, Shivam, Shubham, Dwarkadheesh, and Indraprastha society.
“The fuse boxes are located at a very low height in Sector 12. What makes matters worse is that most of the fuse boxes are open with wires jutting out of it. These wires are hard to spot due to overgrown grasses and are a danger to pedestrians,” says Prabhakar Gautam, a member Dwarka Kunj Apartments RWA in Sector 12.
An open fuse box at at one of the streetlight poles inside Radhika Apartments in Sector 14
“The situation is serious and accidents can happen. Pedestrians who walk with their pets are susceptible to electric shocks. In the past, one or two such issues were reported in the area. Officials need to look into it,” Gautam added.
Similarly, in DDA housing pockets that are under the jurisdiction of SDMC, streetlight poles also have open boxes. The supply junction boxes and the panels in varius blocks, which are under BSES, are in poor condition and are not locked.
SS Chauhan, president of Radhika Apartments, Sector 14 Pocket 1, says, “The electrical infrastructure is ill maintained. SDMC and BSES should look into it. They should close the boxes and manage the supply junctions and points under the stairs in the blocks.”
Moreover, in parks under SDMC and DDA, the condition of electrical infrastructure is poor and open fuse boxes and supply junctions with wires jutting out are an invitation to disaster.
KS Bhati, president of Ganpati Apartments and the Federation of RWAs (FORWAS) of Sector 9, says, “We have raised the issue with the concerned departments. They have done some work, but in many places, work is still pending.”
About the state of affairs in the DDA pocket, Ward 135, councillor Shashi Tomar said, “ I will take up the subject with BSES and the open boxes would be closed as soon as possible. For the parks that are under SDMC in my ward, I would visit them and ask the engineers to fix the problem.” The councillor of Ward 136 was not available for comment.
An open junction box at one of the parks in Sector 5
