Thousands of telecom firms’ poles set up sans nod or fee payments, says RTI activist

A local RTI activist has levelled serious allegations against the telecom firms, claiming that thousands of poles for optical fiber cable (OFC) have been installed across the city without proper approvals or fee payments.

Suresh Kumar Sharma, former district AAP president and RTI activist, stated that he collected the information through RTI that the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) had granted permission to install only 1,528 poles between October 27, 2022, and March 10, 2023. But more than 15,000 poles have been installed throughout the city.

“Every lane and corner of the city has a telecom pole now. It’s hard to find a single street left untouched. Telecommunication companies are responsible for the rampant installation and has dug up large portions of the city to lay OFC cables, causing significant damage to underground water and sewer pipelines, many of which later had to be repaired at public expense,” said Sharma.

Sharma said besides the infrastructural damage, these cause undue inconvenience to residents. “The poles have been installed right at street corners, leaving little room for large vehicles,” he added.

The RTI activist also highlighted irregularities in the approval process. As per regulations, permissions for such installations should be granted through a District-Level Telecom Committee under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner. This committee is supposed to include representatives from the police, the electricity board, the Forest Department, and the Amritsar Municipal Corporation. However, Sharma alleged that MC engineers approved the poles individually, bypassing the required committee altogether.

He further claimed that had the installation of all poles been approved as per the standard procedure, the government could have earned nearly Rs 25 crore in revenue. Instead, permissions were issued for only 1,528 poles for a total fee of Rs 2.68 crore, leading to an estimated loss of Rs 22.3 crore to the state exchequer.

He has demanded a Vigilance Bureau inquiry into the matter. “This is a clear case of collusion between MC officials and company representatives. An impartial probe is necessary to ensure the government recovers its lost revenue,” he added.

Amritsar