After a series of failed attempts to solve the problem of loosely hanging cables and jumbled wires on the utility poles, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City has given a 15-day ultimatum to service providers to manage their cables.

Issuing a notice on Tuesday, the City asked the internet service providers, cable TV services and other stakeholders to remove the clusters of tangled wires from the utility poles.

The jumbled wires on the poles and snapped wires on the road give the city an ugly look, the notice said. “It has increased the risk of a fire breaking out any time.”

The municipal authority also warned that if the concerned agencies did not remove their cables or wires within the given period, they would be removed on the 16th day.

“The service providers should be held responsible for the inconvenience faced by the customers,” read the City’s notice.

The City has also asked service providers to remove unnecessary cables and put marks on the ones that are in use, so that it is easier for the City to manage the loose wires.

Unmanaged cables and tangled wires on the electric poles are ubiquitous on Kathmandu’s roads. Besides inconveniencing pedestrians, such wires and cables have for years caused difficulties to persons with disabilities, children and the elderly. It also adds risks of accidents.

After being elected the Kathmandu mayor in May 2017, Bidya Sundar Shakya had prioritised managing the jumbled wires on the utility poles, but even half a decade later, the issue is yet to be addressed.

“But this time, the City is committed to solving this problem effectively,” said Nabin Man Manandhar, spokesperson for the City.

“This drive has become effective in the Thamel and Ason areas, and if the service providers cooperate, we can easily solve this problem in other parts of the city as well.”

Even the Nepal Electricity Authority last year issued a 45-day ultimatum to the service providers to remove messy cables in order to minimise accidents including fires and to maintain the urban beauty, but the drive could not become successful.

However, this time, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) officials claimed that the problem is going to be over as it has already put more than 65 percent of the overhead low-tension electric cable lines into the underground cable networks.

“We need to put about 30 percent of the electric lines in Kathmandu underground,” said Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai, spokesperson for the NEA. He said the utility is committed to assisting the KMC in the drive.

KMC spokesperson Manandhar, however, said the NEA has laid its cables underground only along the main roads. “This is a good initiative, but the problem of jumbled wires is more pronounced in the alleys and narrow roads,” he added.

The NEA has estimated that approximately Rs15 billion would be needed to put all the overhead cable lines in the Valley underground.