BBMP wakes up, takes action against unauthorised OFC and illegal banners

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has directed telecom and Internet service providers to declare unauthorised Optical Fiber Cables (OFCs) laid in the city by them, officials said on Sunday.

The BBMP has issued a notice to these service providers asking them to submit the details by December 20.

"It has come to notice that many of these telecom and Internet service providers have laid unauthorised OFCs in the city. We have issued a notice to them to declare details of such unauthorised OFCs latest by December 20 afterwhich the same will be regularised," a senior BBMP official said.

"Even earlier, several attempts were made by the civic body to regulate OFCs laying in the city to protect roads and mobilise revenue. However, these attempts failed but this time, strict action would be initiated against these service providers if they do not adhere to the rules and declare unauthorised OFCs," he said.

According to the official, 31 companies had taken permission to lay 12,463 km of ducts, but on the ground, these companies laid 97,000 km of ducts. Out of this, 84,537 km of ducts were found to be illegal.

For one km of duct, telecom service providers are required to pay about Rs 850 while non-telecom companies have to pay Rs 450 as ground rent, he said.

After receiving several complaints of rampant road-digging by private companies for laying OFCs lines in Bengaluru in July this year, the BBMP considered regularising such illegally laid lines by levying a penalty on the companies.

Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had also sought the details of permissions given to such companies and how many kilometres of lines were laid by them in the city.

Unauthorized Banners: Palike slaps Show Cause Notice to 230 officials After receiving scathing criticism from the Karnataka High Court, the BBMP issued show cause notice to 230 officials for failure to curb unauthorized hoardings in the city.

As the officials, the notices have been issued to officials in 8 zones of the corporation limits, and explanations have been sought for their inactions.

In some cases, the responsibility of officials has been determined based on their involvement, and proceedings have moved forward. In 117 cases, it has been reported in the certificates that the investigation against erring officials has progressed.

Reportedly, in 724 cases from 2020, 164 of them have resulted in penalties. Meanwhile, another email complaint by Geeta Mishra against the Congress and the BJP was also looked up, for erecting banners without permission in Sadashivanagar, Vidhana Soudha, Vyalikaval, City Market, and Jayanagar.

The Civic body has cashed in Rs.1.14 crore in advertisements and banners over the last three years.