Bengaluru likely to experience internet outages; Everything you need to know
Might impact tech companies, WFH employees
Bengaluru: Bengaluru, often hailed as India's tech capital, faces the looming possibility of an internet blackout that could significantly impact both work-from-home employees and the operations of tech firms in the region.
The reason behind this potential disruption is the decision taken by the Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) to remove all unauthorised optical fibre cables (OFCs), data cables, and dish cables that have been laid on electrical poles across the city.
This move comes in the wake of two incidents where pedestrians were injured due to electric poles collapsing under the weight of dangling OFCs. The first incident occurred on August 22 in Sadduguntepalya near Koramangala, resulting in serious injuries to a 21-year-old college student who suffered significant burns. The second incident happened on August 19 in Devarabisanahalli near Bellandur, where a 23-year-old pedestrian was injured by a falling pole.
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In response, Bescom has announced its decision to remove all unauthorised cables within a week's time. The company emphasized that if OFC and dish cable operators fail to comply within this timeframe, Bescom will take the matter into its own hands and proceed with removal, while also filing cases against the concerned operators.
While the move is aimed at ensuring public safety and preventing such accidents in the future, it has raised concerns about potential internet disruptions in the tech hub. Residents in various areas, including Sarjapur Road, Carmelaram, and HSR Layout, have reported internet outages in recent days due to the removal of unauthorised cables.
This situation echoes past instances in 2019 when similar removals by the Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) led to internet outages in areas like Outer Ring Road, Sarjapur Road, Whitefield, Marathahalli, Bellandur, and Sarjapur. Such actions without prior intimation to telecom and internet service providers prompted the Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) to raise concerns about potential outages and user inconvenience.
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Why remove Mahatma Gandhi's name, asks Priyanka on move to replace MGNREGA
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday slammed the government over its move to change the name of MGNREGA, asking what is the government's intention behind removing the name of Mahatma Gandhi who is the tallest leader not just in India but in the world.
A bill to repeal the MGNREGA and bring a new law for rural employment -- Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025 -- is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha. According to a copy of the bill, it seeks to introduce the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, in Parliament and repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) of 2005.
Asked about the government's move, Priyanka Gandhi said, "Whenever the name of a scheme is changed there are so many changes that have to be made in offices, stationery... for which money is spent. So, what is the benefit, why it is being done?"
"Why is Mahatma Gandhi's name being removed. Mahatma Gandhi is considered the tallest leader not just in the country but in the world, so removing his name, I really don't understand what is the objective? What is their intention?" she told reporters in Parliament House complex.
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"Even when we are debating it is on other issues not the real issues of the people. Time is being wasted, money is being wasted, they are disrupting themselves," Priyanka Gandhi added.
The bill aims at establishing a "rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047", by providing a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.
The bill has been listed in the Lok Sabha in the supplementary list of business issued on Monday.
Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in the statement of purpose of the Bill, said MGNREGA has provided guaranteed wage-employment to rural households over the past 20 years.
However, "further strengthening has become necessary in view of the significant socio-economic transformation witnessed in the rural landscape driven by widespread coverage of the social security interventions and saturation-oriented implementation of major government schemes", he said.
#WATCH | दिल्ली: कांग्रेस सांसद प्रियंका गांधी वाड्रा ने MGNREGA का नाम बदले जाने पर कहा, "...वे महात्मा गांधी का नाम क्यों हटा रहे हैं? वे इस देश के, इतिहास के और दुनिया के सबसे बड़े नेता माने जाते हैं। मुझे समझ नहीं आ रहा इसके पीछे इनकी(सरकार की) मंशा क्या है? सदन चल नहीं रहा।… pic.twitter.com/gp5wNLllDu
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) December 15, 2025
