BENGALURU: The BBMP on Friday removed six truckloads of unauthorised optical fibre cables (OFCs) during a drive carried out on two TenderSURE roads- Richmond Road and Cunningham Road.
The Chairman and members of the BBMP’s Standing Committee for Taxation and Finance conducted the drive and removed the cables that were on trees, posing a threat to pedestrians.
In total, cables measuring around 18km has been cleared.
Chairman of the standing committee M K Gunashekar said, “A few days ago, Internet service providers were asked to pay the outstanding amounts, if any, and also to shift the cables below the ground in the ducts provided for them.”
“The firms had agreed to comply within three days, but they still haven’t done so. About two weeks ago, on Double Road, a pedestrian died after he tripped over a low-hanging cable. How can we keep quiet after something like this?” he added.
The cables removed belong to the firms Vodafone, Tata Sky, Airtel and Idea. Gunashekar added that non-payment by these firms had caused a loss of about Rs 20 crore to the palike. He appealed to the public to bear with the disruption of Internet the drive would have caused.
On Monday, a meeting will be held between Gunashekar, all zonal Joint Commissioners and senior officials over a campaign to clear OFC in other areas.