BSNL cables down and ATMs dead in Vizag

VISAKHAPATNAM: There is uncertainty over when the data lines used by several banks and other major establishments in Visakhapatnam would be restored.

The BSNL which has quite a number of leased lines is working hard to ensure that the lines are operational again, but is hamstrung by the extent of devastation caused to its infrastructure by Huhdud on October 12.

'We have about 5,000 leased lines. The 'last mile' lines, which are overground, had been damaged when trees and electric poles fell on them. Last mile line is the line that is close to the premises of the customer and is overground.

Till the premises, the lines run underground. We are trying to restore the overground lines that have been damaged, but it would take at least a week,' BSNL senior general manager RMM Krishna says.

The BSNL has leased out lines to several banks, business organisations, public sector undertakings like NTPC, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and Hindustan Ship Yard. This apart, the Andhra University and Gitam University too have 1 GB leased lines.

As the lines have not been restored yet, many banks could not ensure connectivity between ATMs and their main servers with the result that a majority of ATMs are still dead, causing hardship to the people. Also, bank customers are not able to use their debit or credit cards at merchant locations because of the same problem.

Branches of several banks too are not able to dispense cash as data lines are not working. This has resulted a strange situation where even though people have money in their accounts, they do not have cash on hand in their hour of need.

Apart from leased lines, the BSNL is facing the problem of restoring broadband Internet connections since they work only when the land line connections are restored.

If there is no regular power supply to homes and offices, even if land line and broadband services are restored, it is of no use since one requires power for switching on his computer and the modem. But our 2G and 3G connections (wireless) are working well, the official says.

'At present we are trying to restore landline connections so that broadband connections too could be restored. But we are facing another problem here.

The huge earth movers hired by the district administration, while removing fallen trees and other obstructions on roads, are removing fibre optic cables too at some places unknowingly,' he said.

The BSNL has fibre optic cables running underground as well as overground. Usually the cable is run over poles when it is not allowed on some occasions by the civic bodies to dig the roads to repair the fibre optic cable already laid.

Now the earth movers are not only snapping the overhead cables but also the under ground ones. The authorities are trying to address the problem by taking it to the notice of the district administration.

The other challenge is to get nearly 6.5 lakh BSNL cellphones work. Though the BSNL has restored 80 percent of the connections, to make all the cellphones work round the clock, all the 325 cell towers have to work continuously.

This has become difficult since cell towers need power and as there is no supply, we are using generators. Generators too need rest for one to two hours after running for about six hours and during this period, the cell towers do not work. Then, starting the generators after rest also takes time since it has to be done manually.

According to TV Ramesh, principal general manager who is incharge of mobile network operations, of the 325 cell towers in the district, half are in Visakhapatnam.

'At least 10 percent of them do not have generators. As there is no power supply, they are down. We cannot use generators either because the owners of the property on which our towers are located are not allowing us, or there is not enough space to set up a generator,' he says.

Officials say restoration of broadband, leased lines and cell phones requires restoration of power supply. Electricity staff are working overtime to restore supply, but the task is daunting given the scale of destruction to infrastructure.

Full Power by Diwali

As many as 15 lakh houses got power supply in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts. Power supply was snapped to about 24 lakh houses in the three districts on Oct 12 as cyclone Hudhud struck.

The remaining nine lakh houses too will get power supply by Diwali, festival of lights, officials said. Top officials of APTransco have decided to stay put in Visakhapatnam to ensure that power supply is restored to all domestic consumers.

'Power supply has been restored in district and mandal headquarters. The entire Vizag city will get power supply by Diwali,' said AP Energy secretary Ajay Jain.

Officials made the Kalpaka sub-station operational on Monday. According to them, of the 24 132 KV sub-stations damaged due to the cyclone, all, except Kasimkota sub-station, were restored. The power sector has suffered Rs 1,200 crore loss in north coastal Andhra due to the cyclone.

AP mulls Green Cess on fuel

In the wake of North Andhra's loss of green cover due to cyclone Hudhud, the Andhra Pradesh government is planning green cess on petrol and diesel to take up massive afforestation programme in the State.

Forest Minister B Gopala Krishna Reddy said, 'We are planning to impose green cess on petrol so as to use the cess for afforestation programme.'