Karnataka - Madikeri   

Telephone cables damaged in Madikeri

THE HINDU

Development work: Trench being dug at Bhagavatinagar in Madikeri for laying water pipelines.

Madikeri: The office of Bharath Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) here has been flooded with complaints ever since work on trenches to lay water pipelines began last month.

The trenches are being dug by a contractor on behalf of the Madikeri City Municipal Council (CMC). However, efforts to obtain the name of the contractor in order to initiate action against him have been unsuccessful, an official, who did not want to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the press, said.

Last week, the general manager of the Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited sent an official communiqué to the Deputy Commissioner to coordinate the digging of trenches with BSNL and thereby prevent further damage to the copper cables. However, BSNL is yet to receive a reply from the district administration.

Repairing the damaged copper cables would lower quality, the official said. The BSNL is not against laying water pipelines; it was only insisting that proper care be taken.

The digging has affected only the local network as connectivity to other parts of the district is through optical fibre cable (OFC).

Reports of damage have been received from Bhagavatinagar, St. Josephs’s Convent area, ITI, Muthappa temple, Jayanagar and College Road.

Commuters have complained against the digging of roads during the monsoon. “Even after closing the trenches,” said autorickshaw driver Sunder Raj, “drivers of heavy motor vehicles will face the risk of running into improperly filled trenches.”

City Municipal Council Commissioner Srikanth Rao said that corrective measure would be initiated shortly. The former Minister Suma Vasant and councillor K.T. Baby Mathew are among those whose telephone lines have been affected.

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