Cable TV operators and internet service providers on Monday started marking live cables — the ones that carry signals to homes — so they don’t get snipped by mistake during the removal of defunct cables.
The operators said marking the live cables was the first step towards removal of unused overhead cables.
“If any live cable gets cut by mistake, the internet, TV and phone connections to many homes will be snapped suddenly. So we are taking this precaution,” said an operator.
“There will be tags of the respective companies on the live cables. All cables without tags will be snipped and removed as they will be considered dead or defunct,” the operator said.
This is only the second time in several years that cable operators in Calcutta will be removing dead overhead cables.
Many operators admitted that half the cables over most roads were defunct.
Metro has been reporting for years that the mess of overhead cables makes the city ugly and also poses a threat to the safety of pedestrians and motorists.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has held multiple meetings with the operators asking them to arrange the overhead cables in an orderly manner but not much has happened till now.
Live cables along AJC Bose Road being marked on Monday. Picture by Sanat Kr Sinha
Some of the roads where work to tag live cables and snip defunct ones started on Monday were Keshab Chandra Sen Street, MG Road, Priyanath Mullick Road, Sarat Bose Road and AJC Bose Road.
“We are working together with internet service providers, telecom companies and cable operators. We have assigned different teams different stretches. If everybody works on small stretches, we will be able to cover major roads,” said Suresh Sethiya, owner of Siti Cable, a multisystem operator.
The KMC has built underground ducts spending Rs 48 lakh on either side of Harish Mukherjee Road. The ducts, where overhead cables will be shifted, were built as part of a pilot project.
Though the ducts were ready before Durga Puja last year, work to take all cables underground is yet to be completed. Operators have announced several deadlines and missed all of them.
“We will take a few more days to complete the work along Harish Mukherjee Road,” said Tapash Das, a joint secretary of the All Bengal Cable and Broadband Operators United Forum.
Das said the operators would tie the snipped cables in bunches and remove them in a day or two after snipping.
In January last year, operators removed defunct cables between the Ruby crossing and Gariahat. But the cables that were brought down lay strewn on the road and occupied footpaths on many stretches for days.
Among the two stretches from where the overhead cables are supposed to be removed is the north-south corridor between Tollygunge and Bagbazar, covering SP Mukherjee Road, Asutosh Mukherjee Road, Jawaharlal Nehru Road and CR Avenue.
Das said they were aiming to remove all overhead defunct cables from the stretch within 45 days.