DADU, Feb 23: The main line of the optical fibre system of the Pakistan Telecommunication Limited was disconnected when the staff of Techno company was digging the land to install pipelines of the Pak-Arab Refinery Limited near Bubak on Monday.

As a result the PTCL network on this fibre optical system was disconnected and communication with different parts of the country was affected. The PTCL supervisor, Umer Memon, lodged an FIR with the Sehwan police against Techno company supervisor Irshad, foreman Sohrab and driver Shahzad.

Mr Memon stated that the PTCL was sustaining a loss of Rs4,500 per second due to the disconnection of the main line of the optical fibre system. He said the PTCL had provided maps of the optical fibre line to the Parco and Techno company's technical staff but they caused a damage to the line.

The line connected Rawalpindi with Karachi. The PTCL staff started working on the site to connect the system again. The Parco was installing its main line from Nooriabad to Multan through the contract of the Techno company.

Our Staff Reporter adds from Islamabad: The PTCL optical fibre cable suffered damage a few days ago due to digging by a company near Dadu without affecting the national network, PTCL officials told Dawn.

General Manager PTCL, Inayatullah Khan, said damage to the network occurred as Techno company was digging for laying pipelines a few day ago. "Even at that time the national traffic was not affected as the network managed to switch over normally," Mr Khan said.

General Manager PTCL, Sultan Hassan, said an FIR had been registered against the company.