E-Kantipur

KAVRE, AUG 10 -

People in Kavre district have been protesting against the Nepal Telecom (NT) for not resuming telephone service for the past six months. One hundred and fifteen telephone lines in Sunthan, 135 in Kushadevi and 240 in Khopasi have been disrupted due to cable theft.

People of Kushadevi padlocked the Banepa branch of NT and submitted a memorandum demanding the resumption of services.

“We have been deprived of telephone services for the past six months. We have been forced to take to the streets as the NT is apathetic towards reconnecting our lines,” said Tanka Prasad Humagain of Kushadevi.

Telephone wire theft is rampant in the district, mostly in towns of Sunthan, Kushadevi and Khopasi. According to the NT, altogether 23,940 metres of telephone wires, worth around Rs 1.5 million, has been stolen in the past five years. “Telephone wire theft is on the rise. Five hundred telephone lines have been disrupted for the past six months due to the wire theft,” said Shivajee Shah, who heads the NT branch. Shah said that his office was working to resume the disconnected service and that initiatives were in place to prevent the menace.

Sirens were installed to monitor and warn of theft but failed to work owing to power cuts. NT employees themselves have taken to patrolling the district in order to control the wire theft.

Police arrested two persons—Saroj Tamang and Yagya Kumar Thakuri—for involvement in wire theft two years ago. They also confiscated from the arrestees 14kg telephone wires and instruments used for the crime.

Police believe that a dormant wire theft racket is slowly becoming active again. District Police chief Surendra Prasad Mainali said they would take whatever means necessary to control theft.

Posted on: 2012-08-10 08:51

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