Corpn sets last date to remove illegal cables

During a meeting with private Internet service providers and cable TV operators, Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash warned the firms to receive licenses for the cables before the deadline. “If the firms fail to oblige, the civic body will cut the extra cables and collect penalty,” Prakash had warned.

The civic body is conducting a drive to identify the cables carried through lamp posts without licences and as of now, the officials have completed the drive on 15,006 streets. Cable wires as long as 9,229 kilometres have been carried without permission. Meanwhile, the civic body had snapped 212-km-long unauthorised cables.

Apart from the cables, the civic body had identified as many as 20,000 poles erected by Internet service providers and they are instructed to get licenses.

According to Corporation norms, companies should pay rent based on the length of cables. As of now, the Chennai Corporation collects Rs 27 crore from the 20 registered companies. The civic body has also identified six unregistered companies using the lamp posts and they are also been ordered to apply for registration.