With roads being dug up to lay optical fibre cables (OFCs) and not being restored after the work, the Kabudeesanahalli residents are now taking the matter into their hands.
A couple of days ago, Murthy (name changed on request), a resident from the area fell from his bike due to an OFC cable chamber that was left wide open. He suffered minor injuries.
“This made me think that other commuters should not face a similar problem that could lead to fatal injuries. When the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials failed to take action, I reached out to the telecom companies on my own and got it fixed,” said Murthy.
He said one of his colleagues also met with a similar accident due to the dangling OFC wires on the road. “My colleague, also from the same locality, fell down while trying to avoid these cables. She suffered a fracture in her leg,” he said.
When he reached out to the Reliance Jio and Airtel network offices on Wednesday, the companies filled the dug up roads on the stretch towards Prestige Tech Park the next day.
“I personally reached out to the headquarters office of Reliance Jio network and Nikhil Meswani, and Hitesh Meswani from the management team restored the OFC chambers in a day,” said Murthy.
Main problem
“As and when the new localities are developing, the residents reach out to data companies to provide internet connection. When the companies come to lay cables, they dig the roads but do not cover it after the work. This is one of the main reasons for the problem,” explained Murthy.
Meanwhile, the removal of unauthorised cable drive the civic body had begun last year has come to a halt.
“We will take up the drive as we have also received orders from Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara. We will get the status report of how many cables were removed across the city in a few days, and we will start the drive,” said N Ramesh, chief engineer, OFC department, BBMP.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks