Date:08/06/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/08/stories/2007060819070400.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Sewage project work takes a toll on phone, power cables

Staff Reporter

500 subscribers lose phone connectivity, 100 houses power supply

COSTLY WORK: Underground drainage project work in progress near the MIT Bridge in Chromepet. — Photo: A. Muralitharan.

TAMBARAM : Telephone and power supply cables suffered an extensive damage during road digging works in Chromepet on Wednesday, as part of the underground drainage network project currently going on in Pallavaram Municipality.

As a result, close to 500 subscribers were deprived of telephone connectivity and power supply was disrupted to around 100 houses in New Colony, Chromepet. Work on digging of the service road to sink sewer lines adjacent to MIT Bridge in the New Colony area began on Wednesday evening.

An earth-moving equipment began to scoop out the earth and in the process, the power supply and telephone cables were damaged. The incident led to frayed tempers among New Colony residents and elected representatives of Pallavaram Municipality.

Officials of the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board said the problems were being attended to. Officials of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board said road digging works had left the power supply cables punctured at many spots and hence the disruption.

Residents said road-digging works were carried out at night, when visibility was lower. With water pipelines and various cables criss-crossing the road at different levels beneath, damage to the cables was common. Though deploying earth-moving equipment helped in the quick completion of tasks, such problems had become common. They said contractors and engineers should have clear information about the topography of the place before taking up digging works, at least on main roads.