KARACHI: PTCL staff detained for ‘illegal’ digging
KARACHI, Mar 11: The row between Jamshed Town administer and PTCL deepened when the town officials handed over some of the PTCL staff to police. They were let off a few hours later.
The two sides are at loggerheads over the digging of a newly-built road in the town by PTCL staff. The Union Council Nazim’s telephone is lying out of order now.
Reports suggest that Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Road, near Administration Colony in Jamshed Town, was built recently under Khushal Pakistan Programme at a cost of Rs2 million. The PTCL staff started digging the road on Tuesday to lay cable.
The town administration held that the UC Nazim, Imran Bhaghpati, had already informed the PECHS exchange authorities about the road construction programme and in another letter the UC had requested the PTCL not to destroy the road by digging it.
According to the town administration, the PTCL was advised to submit its road cutting case to the administration but digging was started.
Finally, the town administration, through a letter from the office of the Deputy Town Officer (B&R), Jamshed Town, had to declare the digging work illegal. The contents of the letter suggested that the work had been carried out without the permission of the Town Office (I&S).
The Assistant Divisional Engineer-1, OSP-III, DEV (S) Region of PTCL, has been warned that if he did not consider the direction, the case may be referred to higher authorities of PTCL.
Later, in order to get the digging work stopped, the town administration referred to police who detained the PTCL staff who were busy digging the road. However, they were released when no one from the town administration turned up at the police station to pursue the case.
Meanwhile, Imran Bhaghpati’s residential telephone went out of order in the afternoon.—PPI
