BSNL cables cut in Tripura, services disrupted

AGARTALA - State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) Thursday said workers of a private telecom company cut off its huge underground cables here, disrupting its communication network between Tripura and the rest of India.

“We (BSNL) have filed an FIR (first information report) with the police against a private service provider whose workers cut off huge underground cables in Agartala,” BSNL general manager Deb Kumar Chakraborty said.

He added that the telecommunication network between Tripura and other states had been temporarily restored Thursday afternoon after initiating “measures on war-footing”.

According to Chakraborty, BSNL’s direct revenue loss due to these disruptions was Rs.15 lakh.

“If we work out the customers and subscribers’ loss, BSNL’s manpower utilisation and materials’ damage, it would cross several crores.”

Due to BSNL’s network disruption, operations of airlines, meteorological department, banking service, media, businessmen and many other sectors have suffered in Tripura Wednesday and Thursday.

“Frequent and unplanned digging up of highways and subways for laying cables by private organisations and repair work and widening and maintenance of roads lead to snapping off of the optical-fibre cable, disrupting the connectivity,” Chakraborty said.

“Despite repeated communiques sent by BSNL to the state government and other users of underground land, the problem continues as the works of digging are being done in a very unplanned and unscientific manner,” he added.

— Indo-Asian News Service