1. Hyderabad has nearly 2,000 km of cable lines laid over 30 years. OTT, telecom, Airtel towers — 30–40% of them are down.
2. TGSPDCL defended its actions, saying only cables hanging below 15 feet or lying unused were being removed.
3. TGSPDCL says that 350 workers are on the job but 1,000 workers would be needed to completely overhaul the system 

The drive launched by Telangana Southern Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TGSPDCL)  to cut down low hanging or illegally strung cables from the electricity poles is resulting in an internet blackout causing inconvenience to citizens.

What started as a measure to prevent hazardous electrocutions after an incident in Ramanthpur where a temple chariot stuck a high-tension wire resulting in at least five deaths and injuries to many is now affecting daily life and causing inconvenience to people at work places and also for home-bound workers.  

Several areas in the city including Madhapur, Uppal, Begumpet, Gachibowli, Shaikpet, Yakutpura, Kondapur, Kompally, Boduppal and Lakdikapul were affected. According to rough estimates, 1.73 lakh poles in the twin cities have authorized cables out of 20 lakh poles, the estimated total, leaving a huge number of wires potentially violating the regulations.

Work from home and students attending online classes have been badly affected including the Telangana Secretariat where the Internet Service blacked out for more than three hours. Employees at IT and other companies are outraged without adequate Wi-Fi. “The internet cut is causing a really hard time as most of the work heavily relies on Wi-Fi and now basic tasks have become impossible as deadlines, tasks are piling up”, says Jhanvi Sanikommu, an employee at the Amazon office. Rishitha Rekhala, working at Sun TV Network, Banjara Hills says, “The unexpected disruption caused chaos in work for nearly one and a half day impacting critical tasks to the entire team, sometimes this affects overall productivity of a project or teamwork.”  

TGSPDCL says that 350 workers along with 100 from the power department are currently working on the grounds to clear all unsafe cables. However, to finish the job in reasonable time, at least a force of 1000 workers may be needed.  

The Telangana Cable TV Internet & Telecom Service Providers Welfare Association (TGCIT) has criticized TGSPDCL’s methods calling them financially catastrophic. Cable operators have staged protests holding a dharna at Chandrayangutta X Road, disrupting traffic and demanding more reliable and responsible action.