CHENNAI: The City Corporation has so far collected around Rs 36 crore from internet service and cable TV providers who have installed cables beyond the allotted length. Officials, however, say their target is around Rs 75 crore, which remains a challenge. As per official records, the Corporation had approved installation of about 5,400 km of optical fibre cables (OFCs), but the city now has around 4,000-km extra illegal cables.
To curb this violation, the Corporation last year increased the fee per km from Rs 43,100 to Rs 47,200. However, it did not effect the desired result. “About 20 companies were provided licences to erect cables. Some local cable TV providers even without registration install cables wherever they wish. In a few narrow roads in north Chennai, the violation is rarely noticed until some grave road accident happens,’’ said a Corporation official.
The official added that Assistant Engineers, during inspections, notice cables tied to poles and trees. “We then send notices to the operators; some pay fines and some don’t even respond. The cables are then removed from the spot.” Dangling internet cables tied to lampposts and trees continue to be a major safety concern for commuters and pedestrians in the city, especially in north Chennai, where the OFCs run very low in several localities.
Just last year, a 31-year-old man died on ECR after a cable which hung from a lamp post got stuck in his bike’s mirror.“In Tiruvottriyur, cable lines lie very low on the platforms. We do not even know if they are internet or electricity cables,’’ said Thangaraj R, a Thiruvottriyur resident. Though the operators have a choice to lay underground cables for which the licence fee is Rs 9,500 -- much lower when compared to aerial ones -- many providers choose the aerial route as it is easier to install.
“All top network providers have a junction box attending to issues in all main city streets. When we get a new booking, we just have to extend a new line from the junction box to their house. This will just take 10 minutes, but if we decide to lay an underground cable, the digging will take a long time to finish,’’ said a staff with a top Internet Service Provider in the city. On the other hand, Corporation officials said most of the ground-men do not even know the legalities of laying OFCs and they just work to expand their customer base. “We will continue our drives to remove the illegal cables,’’ the official added.