OFC operators get 7 more weeks to go underground

Following the request from optical fibre cable operators to extend the deadline to lay underground cables, the civic body has fixed February 2020 as the fresh time limit to finish the work.

However, the shorter deadline could be an inconvenience to the public who might find several roads dug up before the deadline ends on February 7.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had recently amended the existing permission to instal OFCs and had earlier given October 15 as the deadline for the operators to lay the cables underground to ensure the cables are not hung around in public places.

“The underground OFC network might stretch up to 500 kilometres in various places,” said a BBMP official. “Several sub-arterial roads have already been dug for the cable-laying work and this would continue for the next two months.”

As a result of the work, the roads are congested and the BBMP would fix the roads once the cable-laying work comes to an end in February, the official added.

The civic body had decided that it would restore the roads currently being dug up for the cable-laying work and would collect Rs 1.3 lakh per kilometre from the OFC operators for the purpose. The money would be collected while issuing permission for underground work.

But many within and outside the BBMP are bitterly opposed to the fee which they consider too steep.