<p>No road development work will be taken up in Bengaluru until all utilities, including optical fibre cables (OFC), are put in place so as to prevent stretches from being dug up, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai told the Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday. </p>.<p>He announced this decision during question hour when Hebbal MLA BS Suresh (Byrathi) complained that roads in his constituency had been dug up indiscriminately to lay OFC. </p>.<p>“We’ve taken a new decision that no road will be developed unless all clearances are taken and works on utilities are completed. BWSSB, Bescom, OFC...we will ask them if their things are in place to make sure the road won’t be dug up,” Bommai, who holds the Bengaluru City Development portfolio, said. “Even land acquisition will be done as there are many places where roads are being done without the required land.”</p>.<p>Suresh said that the OFC wing of the BBMP is functioning as an independent agency. “New roads that are a week old or a month old are being dug up to lay OFCs,” he said. “Also, what’s the point of having a two-year defect liability period if roads are allowed to be dug up within this time frame,” he asked. </p>.<p>In his reply, Bommai said that permission has been granted to lay 90,908.37 metres (90 km) of telecom OFCs underground. “Besides this, 1.25 km of OFCs have been laid illegally. We have filed five FIRs and a penalty of Rs 1 crore has been levied and collected,” Bommai said. Permission has been given to Airtel, Jio Digital Fibre Pvt Ltd, Vodafone and Telesonic Ltd to lay cables, according to Bommai’s written reply. </p>.<p>“Those laying the cables should use something called a horizontal drilling machine to minimise road damage. However, they’re digging the road manually, thereby causing more damage. Those who lay the cable illegally should fix the roads themselves. Those with permission will pay us the money, which we will use to redo the road,” Bommai explained. </p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>No road development work will be taken up in Bengaluru until all utilities, including optical fibre cables (OFC), are put in place so as to prevent stretches from being dug up, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai told the Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday. </p>.<p>He announced this decision during question hour when Hebbal MLA BS Suresh (Byrathi) complained that roads in his constituency had been dug up indiscriminately to lay OFC. </p>.<p>“We’ve taken a new decision that no road will be developed unless all clearances are taken and works on utilities are completed. BWSSB, Bescom, OFC...we will ask them if their things are in place to make sure the road won’t be dug up,” Bommai, who holds the Bengaluru City Development portfolio, said. “Even land acquisition will be done as there are many places where roads are being done without the required land.”</p>.<p>Suresh said that the OFC wing of the BBMP is functioning as an independent agency. “New roads that are a week old or a month old are being dug up to lay OFCs,” he said. “Also, what’s the point of having a two-year defect liability period if roads are allowed to be dug up within this time frame,” he asked. </p>.<p>In his reply, Bommai said that permission has been granted to lay 90,908.37 metres (90 km) of telecom OFCs underground. “Besides this, 1.25 km of OFCs have been laid illegally. We have filed five FIRs and a penalty of Rs 1 crore has been levied and collected,” Bommai said. Permission has been given to Airtel, Jio Digital Fibre Pvt Ltd, Vodafone and Telesonic Ltd to lay cables, according to Bommai’s written reply. </p>.<p>“Those laying the cables should use something called a horizontal drilling machine to minimise road damage. However, they’re digging the road manually, thereby causing more damage. Those who lay the cable illegally should fix the roads themselves. Those with permission will pay us the money, which we will use to redo the road,” Bommai explained. </p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
