300km in 15 days: Target to clean up cable clutter in Kolkata – Times of India

Kolkata: Cable operators and internet service providers have kicked off the biggest drive till date to remove the overhead cable clutter across 250km-300km of city roads. In the first phase, the mesh of cables was dressed and redundant cables were removed from 75km-80km of roads while in the second phase, the drive covered around 150km.
“The third phase of cable clean-up is the most ambitious one. We are targeting around 300km in just over a fortnight. Work began on Monday and will cover major roads in north, east and south Kolkata,” All Bengal Cable TV & Broadband Operators’ United Forum joint convenor Tapash Das said.
In the first phase, the major stretches that had been covered include Rashbehari connector and Chetla. In the second phase, Sarat Bose Road, Lenin Sarani and SN Banerjee Road were among the prominent stretches that were covered. In this phase, large swathes of south Kolkata will be covered. This includes Santoshpur, the Tollygunge-Garia belt, Jadavpur to Baghajatin, Dakshinapan to Gariahat, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Road, Majerhat bridge to Hastings, New Alipore, Paroma Island to Park Circus seven-point crossing, Hazra Road and DL Khan Road.
The localities and roads that will be simultaneously covered in north and east Kolkata include Girish Park to Exide crossing along Central Avenue, Sealdah BR Singh to CIT Buildings in Beliaghata, Raja Dinendra Street, Manicktala to Bengal Chemicals, Khanna Cinema to Ultadanga, Mirza Ghalib Street and APC Road.
“The heat is proving a challenge for the teams but we are trying to cover as much of the stretches as possible within April 20. In all, around 80 technicians are engaged in the drive,” said Das.
Meanwhile, the KMC electrical wing has issued an ultimatum to cable and internet service providers who operate along Harish Mukherjee Road to remove the overhead cables and relocate them to the underground duct that has been laid there. Two ISPs and telecom service providers are working to shift them underground.
However, there is a challenge that ISPs and cable operators have encountered there. While junction boxes have been created at intervals to access the cables and provide connection to homes, provision has not been made to exit the boxes so that connections can be provided to homes.
“There was a communication gap while the project was designed and executed. Now, pipes are being installed at the junctions from where the cables can be drawn. Once the work is over, there will be no overhead cables on this stretch,” said an official of a telecom firm.