Bihar telecom dept seeks details from service providers over low usage of CBuD app

The department of telecommunications (DoT) in Bihar has raised concern over “the minimal reporting” through the Call Before U Dig (CBuD) mobile application while seeking details regarding the same from the telecom service providers (TSPs), officials familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

The CBuD mobile application, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 22 this year, was developed by the ministry of communications to prevent damage to underground assets by agencies undertaking infrastructure development work.

According to the Union telecommunications department, “CBuD, available in the form of a mobile app as well as an online portal, aims to bring excavators and asset owners on one platform to underwrite and mitigate the losses that occur in a calendar year, due to unmonitored digging activities across the country”.

In keeping with the app, the Bihar telecommunications department asked the TSPs “to furnish details of optical fibre cable (OFC) cut, the cost incurred on their restoration, while expressing its concern over the minimal reporting through the mobile application”.

The low reporting through the app, prior to excavation, is leading to frequent damage to underground infrastructure and causing heavy losses, an official said on anonymity.

Ram Raj Yadava, director (rural), DoT, Bihar, via a mail to the TSPs last Wednesday drew their attention to the “very minimal” reporting through the CBuD app.

TSPs, including the BSNL, Reliance Jio Infocom Limited, Bharti Airtel and the Vodafone Idea, however, said that the OFC cuts were unabated despite the launch of the app on March 22. “Our OFC in Samastipur was damaged only last week by a private telecom laying its underground infra. We did not receive prior intimation about any such work being undertaken through the CBuD app,” said a senior general manager from BSNL, Bihar, on anonymity.

The DoT has now asked “ the TSPs to furnish details of OFC cuts and the cost incurred on their restoration since January this year, in addition to the total expenditure incurred on such restoration work since 2020-21”.

“We have given TSPs separate formats, seeking month-wise details from January, on the number of OFC cut and the number of notices issued through the CBuD app. This will help us assess the damage to the underground telecom assets as also the utilisation of the app,” said Yadava.

“As on Wednesday, the state had logged merely 56 entries on the mobile app since its launch,” added Yadava.

Girijesh Kumar Mishra, special director-general, DoT, Bihar, who superannuated on June 30, had also flagged the heads of different government departments about the utilisation of the CBuD app.

Several agencies, including the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, L&T, Navayuga, SP Singala, SPML and others are engaged in a slew of infrastructure development projects in the state. However, Bihar still remains at the bottom in terms of utilisation of the CBuD app, said officials.

K Rajaraman, secretary, ministry of communications, in a letter, seen by Hindustan Times, to chief secretary of most states and Union territories, had said on December 2 last year that in telecom sector alone, “nearly 10 lakh optic fibre cable cuts happen every year across India, causing ₹3,000 crore per year wasteful expenses in repair for TSPs”.

Similar damages happen to electrical cables, water pipelines, sewerage pipelines, etc. due to lack of knowledge about the existing underlying infrastructure of other asset owners while carrying out excavation in public roads and public places to construct infrastructure across the country, he said.

The excavating agencies, the telecom secretary said, often damage the already existing infra of other utility owners, causing them huge economic losses, inconvenience to people and associated business losses to other stake holders.

The CBuD app was developed under the Indian Telegraph (Infrastructure Safety) Rules, 2022, which the Centre notified through a gazette on January 3, to curb damage to underground infrastructure in construction activities, including road, bridge, drainage, sewerage, laying of gas pipeline, telecom cables, etc.

The rule makes it compulsory for “asset owners”, or government bodies and private firms owning underground infrastructure, and the “excavators” or private contractors and agencies undertaking digging work, to first register online on the CBuD app.

The excavators need to publish notice of an excavation plan electronically, marking the stretch on the Google Map through the app, and take consent of asset owners before the commencement of excavation.

An asset owner has to respond to the excavation notice within three days in case of an “emergency enquiry”, and 15 days for “normal enquiry”, failing which the request is deemed to be approved. Restoration of OFC or plugging a leakage in underground water supply, sewer, gaspipeline, etc. are classified as emergency inquiry.Planned activities like laying of underground cables, road and drain construction, etc. are normal enquiry.There are provisions of stringent penalty for damage to telecom infrastructure.

The state’s Urban Development and Housing Department (UDHD)is among the few government departments lax in registering their “asset owners”. It had registered on the app only 26 of the 260-plus asset owners, including the nagar nigam, nagar panchayat and nagar palika, under it.

The UDHD is spearheading a slew of development projects in the state, including the Patna Metro and laying of sewage infra as part of the Namami Gange programme, an integrated mission,approved by the Centre in 2014 with a budgetary outlay of ₹20,000 crore, to accomplish objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganga.

The road construction department had registered the most number of 139 asset owners on the app, followed by the energy department (120), rural works department (118), the public health and engineering department (49) and the planning and development department (46), said telecom officials.

Bihar contributes to 5% of the total 13,106 registered excavators (or contractors) in India on the CBuD app. It is ranked fourth in terms of the number of registered excavators, after Rajasthan (2162), Gujarat (2072) and Assam (682).