Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE ILLEGAL COMMUNICATION ROAD CUTTING A MAJOR COST CUTTING FOR TELECOM COMPANIES, BBMP FINALLY WAKES UP.

Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

15th October 2011 issue-

                              THE ILLEGAL COMMUNICATION

ROAD CUTTING A MAJOR COST CUTTING FOR TELECOM COMPANIES, BBMP FINALLY WAKES UP.

The BBMP has taken a decision to cut off illegal cables laid by telecom companies throughout Bangalore. BBMP is stating that the companies have laid 25,000 kms long of OFC cables against their permission for 5000 kms. But the reality is quite different and the BBMP has got the statistics wrong. The hard fact is that the telecom companies have laid more than 50,000 kms of cable and the permission is not even for 5000 kms!

The OFC laying in city beats any known logic. Airtel, Tata, Reliance and other companies have dug up the entire city. And the hard fact is that almost 90% of the road digging is illegal in the sense that they have not taken road cutting permission from the BBMP. The OFC business prospered because of the institutionalisation of corruption in the then BMP, now BBMP.

To understand the scam, let us look at the basics.

The telecom companies had to lay cables all along the roads of the city to provide connections to consumers. Before digging the roads to lay OFC (Optic Fiber Cables), the companies had to take permission from the BMP by paying the road cutting charges of Rs. 1300/- per meter, which sums up to Rs. 1.30 lakhs per Kilometer. Besides, it is the company’s liability to restore the roads by asphalting the dug up areas. As per the road protocol, the companies had to use HDD machines to dig the roads. HDD is a horizontal boring machine which can dig up to 250 meters in one stretch.

It is here that the scam rests. The companies obviously look out for cost cutting and the best cost cutting method they found was in road cutting.

The modus- operandi was simple. The companies paid the required fees and got permission for road cutting for a km or half showing the starting point and end point. But, the company actually continued to dig 10 to 15 kms with impunity. Even though, it is the duty of the BMP Engineers to be personally present at the start and completion of the road cutting to prevent excess cutting, nobody was actually present at the spot.

The company flourishingly undertook this illegal road cutting needless to say by paying sufficient bribes to the concerned authorities. Smartly, the companies enlisted the support of local rowdies by entrusting them the digging works so that there was no hindrance in their illegal road cutting. Further for record sake, the company allowed Engineers to ‘detect’ small stretches of illegal road cutting and levy fines on them to create public impression that the BMP was doing its duty and that all other road cuttings are strictly legal.

Before 2007, when the BBMP was formed, the companies had a field day in CMC and Panchayath areas which were around 500 sq kms. They dug up all roads they could spot for future plans. The CMC Commissioners and Engineers thus made a fortune from the telecom companies. In fact, the companies have kept records of payments to the concerned authorities. Even now, if the companies are raided, one can find the details of bribe payments to politicians and bureaucrats.

Besides, the digging of main roads, by lanes, cross roads etc. had some times damaged other underground utilities like drainage, water supply, power etc. and the companies cared two hoots to such damages.  In many instances, the companies run their OFC in Sanitary lines too.

In some cases where the companies used HDD machines, the drilling even damaged the foundation of buildings making it weak. Some buildings even developed cracks, but nobody knows the real fact and even now, this is happening in many congested areas. All these happened because none of the BBMP engineers were present at the work spot before and after digging.

With regard to the OFC fraud, it is because of the tireless efforts of Corporator Ramesh, that the BBMP has woken up to the reality. BBMP has now put the illegal road cutting at 25000 kms which is only a moderate estimate. And further, it has decided to cut off the illegal cables laid by the companies. This is easier said done. The companies also have top level links and will not spare any effort to prevent BBMP moves. As a first step, they approached the High Court to safeguard their illegal cables but, the High Court dismissed their petition. The companies will now knock the doors of politicians and finally, whether under pressure or extraneous consideration, a political decision will be taken by the BBMP, to regularise the illegal cables by levying nominal fine on the companies. The matter will then be closed.

The major scam in OFC laying attained dangerous proportions from the year 2006. As the entire roads in Bangalore are networked by the OFC, the total length of the illegal OFC will be more than 50,000 kms in Bangalore alone. The BBMP Engineers in 200 wards can provide the exact details by simply going round the roads of their limits covering main roads and cross roads. Even if BBMP collects the usual road cutting charges of Rs. 1.30 lakhs per km, the BBMP will become richer by at least Rs. 750 crores. Further there is provision to levy penalty at ten times and even if BBMP levies only one time penalty, there will be another Rs. 750 crores making it Rs. 1500 crores. But, only the time will tell, whether BBMP will take actions against the illegal OFC laying or will simply succumb to the political dictation.