Bhakti V Hegde/DHNS

Mangalore, Jan 12: Infrastructure lines, IT Connectivity cables, telephone cables, water supply lines, electric cables and other lines will be allowed to be laid on the PWD land henceforth only if parties laying the lines abide by the norms and guidelines

It is a common scene of well laid roads being dug to lay utility lines haphazardly, causing great inconvenience to the commuters and pedestrians. Taking note of these unregulated digging and with the aim of bring in control over such activities, Public Works Department has brought in guidelines, which are to be followed by those laying the utility lines in future, failing which they will be denied permission to lay lines on the PWD land.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, PWD Circle Superintending Engineer B S Balakrishna said that the infrastructure lines, IT Connectivity cables, telephone cables, water supply lines, electric cables and other lines will be allowed to be laid on the PWD land henceforth only if parties laying the lines abide by the norms and guidelines.

Guidelines

He said that the permission of the concerned Executive Engineers has to be taken before laying the utility lines and the work has to be done in consultation with the section officer, even if the general permission is obtained and restoration charges have to be paid if necessary.

Apart from this, the laying of the cables should be done in stages, in a length of 500 meters. The next 500 meters shall be taken up only after the previous stretch is restored according to the standards. The utility lines shall be laid at the extreme edge of Right of Way (ROW), at a minimum depth of 1.5 mtrs.

He said that it is a trend among the service provided to dig trenches on the sides of the road, then fill it loosely and leave. These trenches get eroded during rainy season, damaging the roads.

Hence now the service providers are required to restore the excavate trenches as per standards by filling it with granular material in layers of 75 mm, compacted with plate compacter to bring it back to original compaction level.

“The utility lines are often laid by the service providers on culverts, bridges etc, which is a clear violation of rules.

Utility lines laid already inside the bridges shall be relocated. The utility lines should be supported over the sub-structures, and not on handrails or super structure,” Balakrishna added.

He said that practice of cutting the road to lay lies will also be stopped completely as they will be asked to adopt the horizontal boring method, which will avoid cutting of the road.

Pvt firm in soup

PWD circle has withdrawn its permission given to Vodafone company to lay utility lines in the three districts of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu, as the company has violated the said norms and conditions.

Balakrishna said that though the company was given the permission by the Government, it will not be allowed to lay lines in the said districts till the company agrees to mend its ways and sets right the violations.
With the authorities getting into action against the activities that have been throwing roads into bad shapes till date, road users may enjoy some happy rides on the roads in future.