Had internet service providers removed their own wires from poles along the Tripureshwar-Kalanki and Kalimati-Balkhu road stretches, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) says it would have cleared all wires and poles from the streets long ago.

The national power utility said it has already completed work on underground electric cable networks in Tripureshwar-Kalanki and Kalimati-Balkhu areas and is seeking help from internet service providers and Kathmandu Metropolitan City to remove the internet cables.

“We have completed all work onf underground cable networks in the Tripureshwar-Kalanki and Kalimati-Balkhu areas,” said Bodh Raj Dhakal, chief of the Distribution Line and Substation Department at the NEA. “We are ready to remove all wires and electric poles from the street in those areas like we did in the New Road-Indrachowk area.”

The NEA has already removed all dangling wires and electric poles from the Newroad-Indrachowk area.

In July last year, the state-run power supply utility had issued a public notice asking internet service providers to remove wires dangling in electric poles within six months, as part of its plan to remove all electric poles from Kathmandu streets. Officials, however, concede that it is easier said than done.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City had also given an ultimatum to internet and communication service providers to manage the tangled cables that tarnish the city’s beauty, and had even removed tonnes of defunct wires in the past. But the problems of dangling wires has neither been managed properly nor solved. The cables and jumbled wires in the streets of Kathmandu have been a constant eyesore.

NEA officials said they held rounds of meetings with internet and communication service providers and officials at the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, seeking help to remove the wires from the electricity poles. The national supply utility has also installed underground optical fibres for internet service providers. Officials, however, say that internet service providers are reluctant to pay fees for using the optical fibre network.

“There are multiple internet wires of multiple companies on the electric poles,” said Dhakal. “We cannot cut off internet supply by removing electric poles, as internet services are also directly linked with consumers, who may tolerate load shedding for a few hours but cannot tolerate internet disruptions. We have also sought help from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City in removing internet wires from the electric poles.”

Meanwhile, the NEA said it will complete the work on the underground electric cable in Maharajgunj, Ratna Park, by June. Around 75 percent of the underground cable network in those areas has been completed. Nearly 50 percent of the work in the Baneshwar-Kuleshwar areas has been completed, and the work is expected to finish before the monsoon.

The power supply utility is also working on underground electric cables in Bhaktapur and Lalitpur, but the work will not be completed before 2026, officials say. According to them, they must get permission from multiple agencies—roads department, local units, and others before they can dig roads and footpaths.