All overhead cables will go underground immediately as the government is going to remove all kinds of overhead cables, including for electricity, internet and dish TV in the city, an official said.
Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has already signed an agreement worth Tk 25.30 crore with the Australian company Energy Tron R&D KIS Group for consultancy on underground cable lines in Sylhet, Cumilla, Chattogram and Mymensingh.
According to the agreement, Energy Tron will implement the project within a year. The main work of the project includes review of distribution network master plan, mapping of existing and proposed network, field survey for cable line, design and drawing of proposed cable line and technology transfer.
Sylhet is the first city in the country to have a road with no overhead cables. Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) successfully initiated underground power lines in the Dargah Gate area and removed all overhead cables and electric poles as a pilot project. State-owned Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) and Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO), had undertaken a project to take their overhead electric cables underground in Dhanmondi and Gulshan areas in the capital.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Nasrul Hamid said all overhead electric lines in major cities, including the capital Dhaka, would be taken underground within the next five years. The installation work overhead lines is going on to ensure uninterrupted and safe electricity supply along with beautification. Some of the work has already been done. DPDC has already worked to lay underground cables in Dhaka. However, underground cable lines including in Narayangonj, Savar, Keraniganj and all other cities across the country will be laid in phases.
The state minister further said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was the first to give the idea of taking overhead lines underground. The Power Division has taken up the project under her direction.
Internet service providers and cable TV operators are stringing up illegal overhead cables all over the capital. The messy tangle of these cables, along with the cables of telephone and electricity lines, are not only an eyesore, but also pose a risk for accidents. It is also a great threat to uninterrupted power supply.
If the hanging wires in six areas of the capital are not removed, the power supply will be cut off from May 30, said Nasrul Hamid at a meeting with internet and dish line providers on January 23. But still it has not been implemented.
On 31 October last year, the Power Division constituted a committee, headed by its joint secretary (good governance and APA), Abul Khayer Md. Aminur Rahman, to prepare a report on required actions for removing all the overhead cables hanging from electric poles.
When asked, Abul Khayer told Bangladesh Post, ‘We have already submitted a few recommendations to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources. Eviction drives began to remove illegal wires in some areas of the capital. But due to Coronavirus, the operation was stopped. If the situation gets a little normal, the operation will continue again.”
The Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) providers have installed underground lines. But the internet service providers (ISPs) are not using it. We suggested that the ISPs use the line and its execution is not difficult,’ he said.
Asked about plans to remove the hanging internet wires, Abdul Hakim, president of Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) told Bangladesh Post, Currently, we are working with limited manpower and resources due to Coronavirus. So for now we have no plan in this regard. But if the situation improves, we will think about it.”
Last July 13 at an event, BTRC Chairman. Md Jahurul Haque called on Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam for speedy action on moving cables in the capital underground.
The BTRC chairman said, “Wires are scattered all over Dhaka city. It looks very dirty, it causes accidents. Sometimes there is a big problem; different authorities cut it for different reasons.
Addressing the Mayor, the chairman said, “You build a line underground. The ISPs will be able to pay for it on a monthly basis. If we can do this, it will be 25 percent of digitalization, and then we will move closer to Europe.”
Mayor Atiq said, “We have already discussed with three ISP companies. You have enough money, and I have roads. If you agree, I will go myself and cut all the scattered wires in Gulshan, Baridhara, Banani in the capital. I will go and cut the lines myself.
Sources said following the model of many developed countries, the Bangladesh government has set up Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN), an underground common network system that does not require any overhead cable. All the cables can be connected to an underground management system, and without interrupting the internet connection, the cables can be connected to the system within 24 hours.