200 km of illegal cables around city lamposts snapped by GCC

Workers of the Greater City Corporation (GCC) intensified action illegal cables on Wednesday. Around 200 km of illegal cables that hung from street lampposts were snapped by the civicbody workers.

According to a GCC official, wires of cable TV operators and internet service providers have been snaked around street lampposts. And the firms that use these cables are yet to pay an outstanding due of around Rs 30 crore.

“After repeated notices, some firms have not paid the track rent. At some locations, cables have been extended and connected without permission,” the official said.

On Saturday alone, when the drive to snap illegal cables began, the civic body removed more than 130 km of cables. “The drive is ongoing, and all illegal cables will be snapped,” the official added.

According to data, optic fibre cables of around 10,400 km are being hanged around streetlight posts by cable TV operators and 23 internet service providers. The firms pay a yearly track rent of Rs. 63,000/km of cable to the electrical department. Additionally, service providers also pay Rs. 9,000/km to the roads department if they carry cables under the roads that are maintained by the Bus Route Roads department (BRR).

Totally, the electrical department earns around Rs 70 crore and the road department earns Rs 10 crore every year. Moreover, the electrical department can hike the rent by 10 per cent every year.

A BRR official said that there were no illegal cables underground as per a recent survey. Meanwhile, the state government recently issued an order to waive track rents for internet firms in future.