Confusion reigns over removal of optical fibre cables in City

The decision was apparently taken without the authorisation of BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah, who was reportedly found fuming over the entire episode.

Sources in the Palike said Engineer-in-Chief (EIC) B T Ramesh on Saturday dispatched the memo based on requests from OFC cable owners and local TV cable operators, whose transmission was effected in some parts of the City. “By Saturday afternoon, calls from all the eight zonal offices started to pour into the head office asking for a clarification on the issue. It was a bizarre turn of events in the last 48 hours,” sources said.

Having learnt about the inter-office memo, the Palike commissioner late Saturday evening summoned the EIC and rapped him for his unilateral decision. “The EIC was also threatened that he would be stripped of his powers,” the source said.

Following the dressing down by the Palike chief, Ramesh is learnt to have done a volte face by sending yet another memo to the zonal offices asking them to resume the OFC cable removal drive.

It may be recalled that the OFC removal drive had evoked angry reactions from cable TV operators, whose lines were also disconnected, and subsequently the issue was settled after a meeting with the Commissioner.