BBMP: OFC firms illegally dig up roads; criminal action ordered

BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath has ordered criminal action against Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) companies that have illegally dug up recently laid roads in wards like VV Puram, Sunkenahalli, Jayanagar and Hombegowda Nagar.

Besides using an outdated permission letter to dig the roads, the companies also failed to restore them after cutting them at multiple points. The companies should have obtained permission from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) before embarking on such works.

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The chief commissioner’s action comes after a complaint by BJP Bengaluru (South) president NR Ramesh against the telecom operators, OFC contractors and two BBMP engineers.

“File an FIR if they have dug up the road without appropriate permission,” reads Girinath's letter to the chief engineer of the BBMP’s OFC division.

Ramesh stated in his complaint that four telecom operators, including Reliance Jio and Airtel, had sought permission to lay underground cables for a stretch of 632 metres, 1,837 metres and 557 metres in the above-mentioned wards in December 2021 and March 2022. The operators dug up newly laid roads now using outdated letters. Ramesh added that the BBMP had spent Rs 11 crore to asphalt the roads.

Though similar complaints of illegal road-cutting have emerged across the city, the BBMP did not take action, he said.