A high-level team of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) visited the New Karachi and Orangi Town telephone exchanges and found that development work and encroachment on lands has caused damage to underground telephone cables on a mass scale.
A PTCL press release issued here on Wednesday said that in line with the directives of PTCL President Akhtar Ahmed Bajwa, a high-level team visited the New Karachi and Orangi Town telephone exchanges to ascertain the facts of rising complaints about outdated network and severe telecom conditions in the area.
The members of the team included Central Tanveer Ahmed, executive vice president, Central, Chief Engineer Naeem-ul-Huq, Pervez Mehtab, Iqbal Waseem, executive vice presidents (operations) South, Chief Engineer Muzaffar Ali, general managers Shamsher Ali Khan, Nafees Siddiqui and Seed Ahmed.
The team found out that the PTCL network was damaged severely owing to the development work of the civic bodies.
They also found that encroachment has also spoiled the situation, as the area linemen were unable to access the cabinet and cable of PTCL as these installations were now in the residential premises of the land grabbers.
The team also noted that in some areas burning of cabinets had become a matter of routine.
They found out that in some areas sewerage had also played havoc with the PTCL facilities.
The PTCL has requested the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) to at least inform the PTCL prior to starting development work so that precautionary measures could be adopted.
The team has, however, directed the divisional engineers to rectify faults and report to the general manager.