Hundreds of telephone lines in Padi and Mogappair have been affected for nearly a month now owing to road digging work for various developmental projects.
Residents said the localities included Devar Nagar, Kumaran Nagar, TMP Nagar, Moorthy Nagar in Padi and Officers' Colony, West End Colony, TVS Colony and TVS Avenue in Mogappair. The road cuts damaged the underground cables.
B.Rajesh, a resident of TVS Colony, said “Not everyone in the family has mobile phones. Many senior citizens in the area depend only on the BSNL landlines.”
Many residents of Padi said the Internet connection was important for them as it helped them stay in touch with relatives and friends living abroad. Moreover, it was cost-effective compared to voice calls. Following the disruption due to the road cuts, they are forced to incur additional expenditure by way of accessing the Internet at browsing centre and on making international calls.
V.Rajagopal, a resident of Mogappair, said several roads in the area have either been dug up for constructing stormwater drains or providing water and sewer connections. Despite frequent representations to the authorities concerned, the problem is yet to be resolved.
Staff of BSNL, Chennai Telephones said about 800 lines have been affected. They alleged that the manpower shortage in the department resulted in the delay in restoration of the lines damaged by the contractors of the various civic works. Many contract labourers with BSNL did not turn up for work due to inadequate wages.
Officials of the Padi telephone exchange said there are about 4,500 subscribers and 250 complaints about telephone faults are pending. It takes a lot of labour for the workers to identify the damage and restore it. By then, a fresh cut in the cable is made while digging. Though the contractors are advised to provide prior information about the road cuts, it is often not followed.
The problem has been persisting for about a year now due to work carried out by Ambattur Municipality and Chennai Metrowater. The BSNL officials said that the authorities of other government agencies have not responded for their complaints. The subscribers would be provided a rebate in the rental charges for the period when their lines were dead owing to cable fault.
Officials of the Ambattur Municipality said the areas would be reviewed immediately and action would be taken to solve the problem. BSNL Chennai Telephones officials recently took the unprecedented step of claiming compensation from a Chennai Metrowater contractor for damage caused to telephones lines in the Pallikaranai-Medavakkam area.
Officials said telephones lines are often the first casualty when any department digs up the road for its development works. The damages happen to both the copper cables and the optic fibre network that are crucial to the communication network.
Frequent cable cuts hurt the service provider in more ways than one -- replacement costs, loss of revenue and the erosion of subscriber goodwill, an official explained.
