Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, February 18

The ongoing road expansion and pavement construction in the Battisputali area has resulted in the disruption of telephone services for more than four weeks in some cases.

On the first day the work began, almost a thousand telephones lines were disconnected because the careless construction workers severed some major telephone cables. "This is ridiculous because it has been almost a month and after all this complaining no action has been taken," says Prem Kumar, angry at the indifference shown by the Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) officials at Chabahil.

The NTC officials say that they are not to blame, but they are the ones to repair the damaged cables. They have not been able to identify exactly where the lines have been severed.

The NTC was, however, able to restore services to hundreds of subscribers after a week. "We are trying to figure out where the damage has occured, and unfortunately about a hundred lines are still cut off," says Shyam Shrestha, senior engineer at the NTC office. "I promise to personally check and help restore the lines by Friday," says Shrestha.

The Deputy General Manger (Planning) Sugat Kansakar says that the services will be fixed soon. But this is little consolation for Kumar. "How much longer do I have to wait," says the 68-year-old subscriber.

The road expansion programme is one venture that the Kathmandu Mayor Keshab Sthapit has undertaken lately.