Bhubaneswar, Aug. 14: The Central Electricity Supply Authority (Cesu) has finally woken up from its slumber and started taking up repair and replacement of the electric poles lying in dangerous conditions across the city.

On July 21, Brahmananda Swain, 45, a schoolteacher from Chandrasekharpur Housing Board Colony, was seriously injured near the Buddha Temple of the Mahabodhi Society near Exhibition Ground when an abandoned light post fell on him. The post was maintained by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The Telegraph had published a report titled “Death traps stand tall” on July 23 on the problems of maintenance when it came to BMC street lights and power supply poles of Cesu.

After the publication of the report, the Cesu authorities sprang into action and ordered immediate repair of the damaged and dangerous electrical poles and has started installing support to the dangerous structures.

Cesu superintending engineer S.K. Swain said: “I have asked the assistant engineers and junior engineers concerned to take up repair and maintenance work so that no one can blame us. The street lights are maintained by the BMC and not the power distribution company.”

He also said asurvey would begin within a week to check the strength of the supply poles. Once the survey was over, corrective steps would be taken either to change them or add strength to their base following government norms.

The Telegraph team inspected a pole near Unit-IX Boys’ High School where the Cesu has put extra support to it.

This was one of those poles mentioned in the news report. Likewise, near superintending engineer’s office inside the Grid Corporation’s office, a dangerously positioned pole was replaced with a new one. The pole was only sustaining itself on the support of power cables, which join the supply pole with others nearby ones.

Samir Behera, headmaster of Unit-IX Boys’ High School, said: “I am extremely happy and thankful to The Telegraph for this. On various occasions earlier, I had requested the local junior engineer, but he paid no heed. Two poles were in pathetic condition. But last year in November, they did some cement job on one of those as the chief minister was coming to our school and the pole was near the entrance.”

Pramod Sahu, a resident of Unit-IX Government Colony, said: “There is also a need for the BMC to cover the open wires used as switches of its street lights. The civic authorities should do it on a war footing.”

BMC assistant engineer (electrical) Ajit Kumar Behera said: “The method to switch on street lights has been in practice for decades. We have signed a tripartite agreement with the state government and a Mumbai-based company for the use of energy-efficient street lights in nearly 15,000 poles in Bhubaneswar. Modern switches would be used on the poles. The city is going to have an overhaul within 12 months, according to the agreement.”