Crackdown on illegal cables hits Net in parts of Goa

THE ELECTRICITY DEPT SAID MANY CABLES WERE INSTALLED ILLEGALLY AND MANY PROVIDERS HAD NOT PAID THE PAST DUES

- Gerard de Souza

PANAJI: Large parts of Goa went "dark" on Tuesday after the Goa Electricity Department started cutting fibre internet cables belonging to major private players such as Airtel, Jio and Ethernet Express among others, rendering hundreds of thousands of establishments—including businesses, and those essential providing such as hospitals, educational institutions and government offices—without network services.

The state police headquarters, the state transport department, and several health centres were left without internet connectivity after the electricity department took action claiming several of the cables were installed illegally, and many of the providers have not paid past dues.

"We have cut the cables from 43 poles—that too old poles which were damaged, cracked, etc which are to be removed," executive engineer of the Goa Electricity Department, Kashinath Shetye, said. "Our plan is to clear the poles across Goa—we will do it little by little. They have not paid their dues. This issue has been going on for the last few years. We are going as per our rules. We issued them notices, we asked for the money to be paid. Till date, not a single paisa has been recovered," he added.