Hours after lightning struck at the exchange of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) here on Tuesday evening, disrupting its broadband, mobile and landline services, the staff swung into action and restored the broadband and mobile connectivity.
After lightning struck at the building followed by thunderstorm, thick black smoke engulfed the entire switch room and adjacent rooms on the first and the second floors of the office as wires started melting away.
Fire and Rescue Services personnel cleared the smoke and left the premises late on Tuesday evening, and the technical staff, assisted by transmission and maintenance teams from Karaikudi, swung into action and restored broadband and mobile services on Tuesday night itself, sources said.
As no equipment was damaged, the technical staff provided connections in the alternative chords and restored the services.
The thick smoke, which engulfed the building initially, gave an impression that it could be a serious damage, but a detailed analysis revealed that it was only minor, the sources said.
The lightning charred the wiring network in four or five chords, triggering smoke, but the staff, as a precautionary measure, shut down the entire network, resulting in the disruption of BSNL services at several parts of the district.
Banks and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were the worst affected as the public sector company offered broadband services to more than 200 bank branches and ATMs, the source said.
As the firemen used foam and water to prevent break-out of fire, the technical staff launched a massive cleaning and draining operation, using vacuum cleaners, the sources added.
After completing the work, the staff restored the landline services on Wednesday evening.
