Power Officials Cut Dangling Internet And TV Cables

Hyderabad:After disruptions in broadband and cable TV services across Hyderabad caused by the electricity department's drive to cut dangling wires, cable operators met TGSPDCL chairman and managing director Musharraf Faruqui on Wednesday and offered to work in collaboration with the electricity department to resolve the issue.

After several deaths in Ramanthapur, Amberpet and Bandlaguda due to electric shock, all linked to low-hanging cables, the electricity department began removing cables tied to electric poles to prevent electrocution hazards.

The wire-cutting drive on Tuesday had brought the city to its knees, with areas like Madhapur, Kompally, Nanakramguda, Nizampet, Neredmet, Nallagandla, Annojiguda and Beeramguda among those affected.

“Such drives are taken up from time to time to remove long-unused and low-hanging wires. After the recent deaths, it became urgent to act,” said Musharraf Faruqui, adding that the cable operators had been given notices almost one and a half years ago.

After the meeting, however, Musharraf Faruqui directed the officials to cut only unused wires and bring all the wires in one place to avoid low-hanging and dangling ones.

Several citizens pointed out that a better approach could be used in collaboration with cable operators to prevent internet outage, as the sudden operation threw work-from-home schedules into disarray and sparked anger across social media platforms.

“I thought the issue was at my home and wasted hours trying to fix it, only to learn it was because of the repairs. For those of us working remotely, even a short disruption creates a lot of stress,” said Ayesha Siddiqui, an IT employee from Kompally.

Shrutee Ghosh, a designer from Madhapur, called the cuts reckless. “This whole issue shows the urgent need for better communication between power and telecom departments. Cutting cables without planning is careless,” she said.

Some residents supported the wire-cutting despite the Internet disruption. A Reddit user wrote, “I am affected, but I am actually with the authorities on this one. Let them go hard on these cable operators and make sure there’s better cable management.” Another said, “They should have given a prior announcement. I would have prepared instead of wasting money on mobile data.”

The disruption came soon after police had advised software companies to allow employees to work from home due to heavy rain forecasts, which further compounded the inconvenience. According to internet service providers, more than 1.5 lakh connections of Jio, Airtel, ACT and Hathway were affected.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) condemned the exercise, blaming the electricity department for indiscriminate cutting of optical fiber cables. “Internet cables do not carry electricity and are unrelated to power infrastructure. The actions of TGSPDCL have caused major outages for broadband users across the city,” said Lt Gen Dr S P Kochhar, director-general of COAI.