Reliance Jio to face Rs 25 lakh fine after Bengaluru road dug up without permission

A vendor of Reliance Jio Fibre allegedly dug up Sarjapur main road in three spots to lay optical fibre cables.

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The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has said that it will issue a fine of Rs 25 lakh against Reliance Jio Fibre after one of its vendors, Shranya Constructions, allegedly dug up a road in Sarjapur in Bengaluru without prior permission from the civic body.

“In the last week, vendor associated with Jio Digital Fiber breached rules of laying OFC (optical fibre cables) in Sarjapur Main Road by digging up the road without authorisation to lay cables. This has caused loss of public property and has caused inconvenience for residents and commuters,” BBMP said in a media release.

"Related to the current matter, Jio Digital Fiber Pvt Ltd will be issued a fine of Rs 25 lakh and [we] will take measures to blacklist the vendor involved in laying the cables", the release added.

This came to light on Saturday when Vijay Kumar SP, Assistant Executive Engineer at BBMP, observed that workers of Sharanya Constructions had dug up Sarjapur road in three spots close to Spring Valley apartment.

Following this, Vijay Kumar also filed a complaint at the Bellandur police station, after which an FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and under section 427 of the IPC (mischief causing damage).

Incidentally, the road that was dug up was recently re-laid as part of the BBMP's road-widening work in the area. The BBMP has been working towards widening the road up to 50 metres from Iblur Junction to Carmelaram and make it a six-lane road.

"The vendor has now re-tarred the road. This [penalty] should be a reminder to other telecom and internet service providers not to dig up newly asphalted roads or without permission. The residents of this area were struggling with the condition of roads; it is unfortunate that the road was dug up when work was going on in the area," Vijay Kumar SP told TNM.

TNM has reached out to Reliance Jio for comment, and will update the story with their response when it is received.