Trinath & Roopa Lall
Port Blair, Feb 21: Andaman Sheekha newspaper have been continuously writing about incidents of BSNL OFC damage in Middle Andaman during excavation works of NHIDCL, which is causing total blackout of BSNL service in entire Middle Andaman region.
Acting swiftly to problems being faced by public, the Deputy Commissioner of North and Middle Andaman, Mr. Awanish Kumar yesterday conducted a meeting between BSNL officials and NHIDCL officials during which he has issued orders that no excavation work will be carried out by NHIDCL contractors in absence of BSNL staffs and the DC also directed BSNL officials to provide staffs at excavation site.
Meanwhile, the NHIDCL has alleged that OFC is getting damaged during excavation work because the OFCs were not laid in prescribed depth.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha, Mr. Manoj Kumar Verma, General Manager Project, today said that as per specifications BSNL OFC must be laid 1.5 mtr below the road surface, which is not done in many places.
He added that the contractors are getting OFC cable even after going just .5 to .7 mtrs while NHIDCL has to go .8 mtrs to build the base. However, Mr. Verma added that he has instructed his contractors not to carry out any excavation work in absence of BSNL staffs.
