Recently, the Goa Electricity Department in the Smart City of Panaji has decided to remove/cut all cable networks that are found tied to the poles. A good move, if the electricity poles are to be removed. Why is the Department or Government not making other alternatives for the private cable operators to use underground cabling systems? If one has to excavate the roadside mud, there will be many unused cable pipes laid by the Government (BSNL, Jio, etc.) for their use, but they are hardly put into good use.
Cable operators have asked the court to intervene and, rightly so, got a stay. But if the government is serious about seeing that citizens are getting jobs, then private cable networks of some young locals should be provided with the use of unused underground cable conduits, or there should be a tie-up with BSNL to provide local cable networks to houses, especially in the villages.
The Electricity Department has surprisingly spared the advertisement boards on electricity poles, most of which are illegal, and there is no revenue collected by the department. Will the JERC check on this loss of revenue, rather than keep on raising the unit charges while there is destruction without proper supervision of the ongoing underground cabling works?
