Dead phones add to residents' woes

By V.N.Harinath

HYDERABAD, DEC. 29. Residents of Jeedimetla are being forced to put up with untold hardship since a week, thanks to their dead phones. About 150 telephones became defunct because of the `thoughtless' action of a private telecom firm's contractor in trench-cutting the road adjoining the Nagpur national highway for laying cables, thereby damaging the existing cable network.

Not only the residents, but operators of several PCOs had no other go but to abandon their booths for the simple reason that they could not function. Some of the local transport undertakings, like BNR Transport, and traders also suffered loss of business since they became incommunicado.

While the errant workmen have disappeared, the A.P. Telecom personnel and the Qutbullapur civic officials are being abused by the residents daily for no fault of theirs. On Friday the locals not only gave a bit of their mind to the personnel but also threatened to stage a dharna before the municipal office.

Mr. Murali Mohan who runs a hardware store says his business was affected as no outstation calls could be received. Besides, he had to leave the shop to make telephone calls, both local and outside Hyderabad. Wing Commander (retd.) Mr. Subba Rao, a heart patient, is facing a threat to his life, as his wife is in a dilemma how to get across to the doctor in case of an emergency and if his health condition were to take a turn for the worse.

One of the first to see the workmen of the contractor start digging, Mr. Rao says: "I came rushing to the spot on the Medchal road, near Sahara International dhaba, on seeing them use crowbar. Since I knew there were telecom cables I tried to stop them. But it was of no use. A representative of the firm butted in to say he had an order to undertake digging."

Since then, the phones have gone dead. Because of the daily bombardment of abuses by the residents, the A.P. Telecom personnel took up work to repair the damaged cables this morning. It is expected to be completed either tonight or tomorrow. They were handicapped as there was delay in the procurement of the required material.

A department official told The Hindu that "the contractor did not care to inform us about the impending digging. We could not locate the damaged cable, as the line testing meter was malfunctioning. It took time to secure another".

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Section  : Southern States
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