OFC-laying and related activities to continue after monsoon

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, MAY 31. Bangaloreans can heave a sigh of relief from Friday as the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) has prohibited all Optic Fibre Cable (OFC) laying activities from June 1 till the end of monsoon.

The BMP has directed the OFC laying consortia to stop digging and road-cutting from the morning of Friday. It has fixed June 3 as the last date for restoration of footpaths and roads that have been dug up for laying cables.

However, workers engaged in laying cables and sub-contractors said that the work was unlikely to be completed before June 3 as a large number of dug up roads had to be restored.

The Mahanagara Palike Commissioner, Mr. Ashok M.Dalwai, has threatened to take action against the agencies which failed to complete work before the deadline of June 3.

All road and footpath cutting works completed by the OFC-laying agencies by May 31 will be presented to the Associated Consortium of Civil Engineers (ACCE) for a third party inspection.

The consortium has been asked to submit its report on June 8. The agencies will then have to rectify the shortcomings indicated in the report by June 11 and furnish a report to the Mahanagara Palike. If the agencies fail to complete the works by June 11, the BMP will cancel their licences, slap a hefty fine on them and recover the fine amount from their deposits with the State Information Technology Department.

The Mahanagara Palike has already imposed a fine of Rs.16 lakhs each on two agencies -- Messrs Megabyte Infosys Ltd. and BPL Consortium Ltd. -- for delay in completing works. The Chief Minister, Mr. S.M.Krishna, had earlier tendered apologies for the delay caused by the OFC-laying agencies.

These agencies were given permission by the Mahanagara Palike to cut roads, footpaths and drains for laying OFCs as part of the State Government's IT policy.

The immediate restoration required to be completed before June 3, includes earth and sand filling and ``ramming.'' The work of laying cobble stones on footpaths will be taken up after the monsoon ends.

The agencies concerned had been asked to fill the cuttings with sand and soil. This would settle down during the monsoon. Once the monsoon was over, the laying of slabs or cobble stones would be taken up, the Commissioner told presspersons.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Two held, `instant' lotteries seized
Next     : Time for paying property tax extended