The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Consortium to duct cables underground

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Friday, Aug 17, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Consortium to duct cables underground

Kannal Achuthan

Proposal to extend project to the entire city will be placed before the Chennai Corporation Council

— Photo: S.S. Kumar

NEW SYSTEM: Workers dig a stretch along the Nungambakkam High Road to make way for a common duct for optic fibre cables of various firms.

Chennai: For the first time in the city, Internet and cable television service providers are uniting for a common cause.

The service providers, including Reliance, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited, Sumangali Cable Vision and Hathway, have formed a consortium to take up the work of passing their optical fibre cables through an underground duct.

On Thursday, workers dug up a stretch along the pavement of Nungambakkam High Road where the duct would be laid. Separate pipes would carry the cables of various companies. A few extra pipes would be included in the duct in case more players entered the field.

The project will be taken up on an experimental basis on Nungambakkam High Road and Anna Nagar Second Avenue Road. The proposal to extend the project to the entire city will be brought before the Chennai Corporation Council meeting to be held later this month.

Approval awaited

If the proposal is approved by the Council and the State Government, the consortium can call for bids to start the work in various parts of the city.

Work on other roads is likely to start only next year, as the monsoon would set in by the time the project is approved and the road work contracts are finalised.

Minimum convenience would be caused to residents and pedestrians as the project would be carried out in phases, said Corporation officials.

The consortium of service providers was formed after the Corporation directed the service providers to duct the cables underground.

Corporation officials said the overhead cables spoiled the cityscape, posed a traffic hazard for heavy vehicles and could be dangerous if they snapped.

Chennai Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said companies, at present, were individually taking up the work to lay their cables underground.

Economical option

If the joint project experiment worked out, firms would find it more economical as the costs would be shared, he said.

A few inspection chambers, to conduct repairs, would be created along the common duct.

This would do away with the need to cut roads every time a fault occurred. Each service provider would have to pay track rent of Rs. 9,400 per km per annum to the Chennai Corporation for use of the space under roads and footpaths.

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