Deccan Herald           29.11.2013

OFCs caused Rs 16,500 cr damage to City roads: Panel

The Optical Fibre Cables (OFCs) in the City have caused a damage to the tune of Rs 16,500 crore ever since the telecom and infotech revolution happened in Bangalore, according to a report by Yediyur corporator N R Ramesh, who heads a special committee to assess the irregularities in laying the OFCs in the City.

Addressing reporters on Thursday, Ramesh said the mayor had constituted the nine-member committee with a direction to submit the report in two months.

“We have prepared a voluminous report comprising 4,732 pages in record time. It will be submitted to the Mayor. The report will be tabled in the BBMP Council on Friday,” said Ramesh.

“Since 1999, the Palike has spent approximately about Rs 6,000 crore on the restoration of roads, which were damaged by the telecom firms,” Ramesh said.

In one instance, the total cost of road damage was about Rs 300 crore while the telecom firms deposited only Rs 13 crore.

He said the BBMP had asked the telecom firms to pay a rental value of Rs 300 for laying one metre of OFCs, which they are not ready to pay whereas in Agartala, the capital of Tripura, the telecom firms are already paying a ground rent of Rs 260 per metre.

The total length of cables laid in the City, including the overhead cables laid by internet service providers and the TV channel cable operators, is about 10,000 km.

Nagapura corporator S Harish, who is also a member of the OFC committee, said earlier the OFCs contained 12 cables but now it has increased to 240 cables.