PANAJI
The State government has now made it mandatory for all service providers -- telecom, internet and cable tv -- to apply for permissions online on the Central government's 'Gatishakti Sanchar' portal to utilise infrastructure of the Electricity Department including poles to mount their cables.
The government issued a 'public notice' to this effect in which it said that the Electricity Department will process all applications filed thus on the Gatishakti portal and grant approvals on the basis of merit and payment of the prescribed fees.
The portal was put in place around a week ago and conditions for the use of electricity infrastructure specified including safety measures and the requirement to maintain aesthetics, without causing inconvenience to the functions of the Electricity Department's line staff.
Meanwhile in areas where underground ducts are available, the service providers have been directed to remove all their overhead cables forthwith and lay them underground, along with all accessory equipment.
The notice comes just a day after Chief Secretary Dr V Candavelou chaired a meeting of top officials of multiple government departments including the two Electricity Department's Superintending Engineers who were appointed 'nodal officers' for the purpose of overseeing all matters related to authorising the use of electricity infrastructure.
During the meeting Dr Candavelou instructed the officials to be prompt in playing their respective parts and processing all the applications filed by the service providers in the quickest possible time.
The officials were also instructed to draw up standard inter-departmental coordination processes so that quick approvals to these online applications are not hampered.
Dr Candavelou conducted the meeting on Wednesday at the Secretariat after being instructed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to resolve the issues arising out of the sudden internet outages faced by lakhs of users including businesses, educational institutions, banks and hospitals with the abrupt cutting of cables resorted to by the Electricity Department on Tuesday.
At the meeting which lasted over 45 minutes, Candavelou and the related department heads also discussed procedures followed in other States to issue similar permissions to come up with a model for Goa.
