Times
of India: Nagpur: Tuesday, 29 December 2015.
Reliance Jio
Infocomm Limited has been caught on the wrong foot, once again. The company did
not remove optical fibre cables laid overhead on street light poles despite
lapse of the permission period.
To launch 4G
services, Reliance Jio had sought permission from the NMC's electrical
department for laying cables overhead in a few parts of the city. Earlier, the
company had secured permission to lay cables underground. Later, in order to
launch 4G services much earlier than previously planned, the company chose
aerial cabling plan as laying underground cables would have required more time.
Activist Shehbaz
Siddqui obtained documents related to the project under Right to Information
(RTI) Act. Documents revealed that electrical department had given permission
for laying 144km-long cables on 4,800 street lights on December 11, 2014. The
permission was given for a period of one year. Reliance Jio was supposed to
remove overhead cables in the prescribed time period. But, the overhead cables
still exist in violation of the conditions.
An official
from the electrical department said, "A show cause notice was issued to
Reliance Jio on December 23 as the company failed to remove cables by then. In
reply, the company has sought extension of the permission and we will be taking
a decision soon."
The company
spokesperson said an application seeking extension has been submitted to the
civic chief.
The RTI reply
also revealed that in March, three street light poles had collapsed between
Trimurti Nagar and Hingna T-Point due to the cable load. Notice was issued to
Reliance Jio on March 7. As Reliance Jio did not take any cognisance, the
department then issued two reminders, on March 16 and 26.
Siddiqui also
demanded action against Reliance Jio for damaging the street lights. "NMC
did not recover any penalty for the damage caused earlier. Inspection of all
poles should be conducted followed by action," he demanded.
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