The Silicon Valley of India – Bangalore is all prepared to go offline starting today that is – October 10, 2011. So, all the people out there, if you are not able to connect to the internet, do not panic. Most of the people in the city won’t be able to.
This is all because of the new drive by BBMP (Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palika). BBMP is on a spree to disconnect any unauthorized OFC (Optical Fibre Cable) in Bangalore. What is interesting to note is that, out of 25,000 Km long OFC, only about 5,000 Km of OFC is authorized, rest being unauthorized.
You can imagine that out of the total if only 20% of the OFCs are authorized, the internet connectivity of the city is bound to go black. According to the Times of India, “The matter had reached the court after the telecom companies challenged a BBMP decision to levy a monthly fee of Rs 120 per metre of OFC as the telecom companies had used roads, a civic body property, for laying them. BBMP also took steps to disconnect the OFC lines where road cutting charges had not been paid. The telecom companies had allegedly made use of sewage pipelines and overhead electric power wires to lay OFC and avoid paying the road cutting charge.”
According to BBMP commissioner, “If BBMP property is used by a private person or a company, taxes have to be paid to the civic agency. After dealing with the unauthorised OFCs, we will take up the issue of cable television services because cable operators use BBMP properties, such as trees, poles and buildings.’’
BBMP has decided to go ahead with its decision of cutting down OFC unless the telecom companies pay stipulated amount of money. According to Bangaloremirror, ““We don’t intend to disrupt the OFC network. But they must submit us the details on their entire network in the city. So far, most companies have filed false affidavits. We are authorized to remove the illegal cables. Let them come forward to pay the monthly rent,” said deputy mayor S Harish.”
As this decision has been taken, BBMP is expecting a minimum monthly revenue of Rs 600 Crore from the private companies.
This is what happens when there is no planning. Whenever a project has to be laid out, there has to be a proper planning and consideration should be given to all the stakeholders of the project. As a result, it is the common people who have to suffer.
What do you think about the decision taken by BBMP? Is it justified to suddenly come up with a plan to increase its monthly revenue?