While some of them are being sent to godowns and landfills, there are still many waiting to be picked up from the pavements; rains have worsened the problem

Snipped and abandoned optical fibre cables lying on pavements or coiled around tree trunks are not only jarring to the eye, but also pose a risk to pedestrian safety.

The civic body had come down heavily on internet service providers and telecom companies, who are expected to lay cables underground and repair the road immediately, but instead, have been flouting this norm.

While the BBMP removed 504 km of OFCs across all the zones in the municipal limits in July alone, it has left a majority of these cables unattended on the city’s streets.

Officials admit that getting rid of them is a cause for concern. At present, some of the cables are being sent to godowns and landfills, but most are still waiting to be picked up from the pavements.

Rajesh Dange, AN Indiranagar RWA member, said the drive to get rid of OFCs had failed to make any impact. “There are cables lying on the trees and on the footpath. Now that it is raining, there is a risk of these cables falling from above,” he said.

According to M.R. Venkatesh, chief engineer (OFC), BBMP, the ideal way to deal with this issue will be to send them to landfills. “All zone-level officials have been instructed to ensure that these cables are properly disposed of,” he said.

However, K.M. Swaroop, co-director of a recycling firm in Bengaluru, said the cables could be reprocessed. “There is technology to separate the PVC and the copper wires in the cable. However, the copper in this is very minimal and hence no businessman will be interested in it. If the BBMP can store these cables so that recycling firms can pick them up, reprocessing can be done. The PVC can be later used for other purposes,” he said.

Plans to intensify drive

Mr. Venkatesh said the BBMP would intensify the drive, and is planning to take up clearance of OFCs in each zone with a schedule that will be shared with service providers.

There are approximately 8,942 km of authorised OFCs running the length and breath of the city, but according to officials, there is no estimated figure of the unauthorised cables.

However, many RWAs feel the BBMP is giving more attention to the core city area not the suburbs. “A road that is laid is not supposed to be dug up for at least a year. The BBMP should give a time frame for companies to take up laying of cables,” said Sahith Jawali, a resident of HSR Layout. He added that the BBMP needs to come up with a comprehensive city plan that would be beneficial to both the companies and the residents. “Randomly cutting connections will affect services, and we cannot afford to be disconnected from internet,” said Mr. Jawali.