22 July 2004	Thursday	04 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 21: Hundreds of telephone connections were severed on Wednesday when the staff of Frontier Works Organization (FWO) damaged the underground optic fibre while digging on the I.J. Principal Road.

According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL), telephone exchange of the General Headquarters (GHQ), Islamabad Exchange, Satellite Town and F-8 exchanges were badly affected.

People of Rawalpindi and Islamabad faced great deal of hardships due to the disruption in their telephone connections. According to the PTCL, the FWO staff while digging on the I.J. Principal Road in connection with its widening damaged the optic fibre at about 11am.

An official of the PTCL said not only the public but also some sensitive government departments were affected by the incident as they lost their telephonic contacts within the country and abroad.

Some of the telephone connections were restored by re- routing, but the repair of the entire system would take at least a day or so, the PTCL official said. He said during construction of roads the CDA staff had disrupted the satellite connections a number of times in the past and the PTCL had sent claims of damages to the CDA many times.

When contacted, an official of the CDA said the authority was not directly involved in the widening of the road as the project was being executed by the FWO.