A doctor said that his work has been affected as a dead landline has meant that patients cannot get through. He added that umpteen complaints to MTNL had resulted in evasive answers and false promises
A front-page report on the frustration of thousands of MTNL users with dead landlines, has had a cascading 'me too' effect. Several people have been calling in, saying that their landlines have been affected too, and complaints have yielded no response. The report stated that when residents of Hutatma Chowk, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai Central, Dadar and Sitladevi temple area complained to MTNL, the organisation passed the buck to the Metro, blaming the ongoing tunnelling work for the damaged telephone cables.
A doctor said that his work has been affected as a dead landline has meant that patients cannot get through. He added that umpteen complaints to MTNL had resulted in evasive answers and false promises.
An MTNL official has said that Metro digging work has affected cables and they are coordinating with the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC). The MMRC, in turn, has said that they are not to be blamed for the dead landlines and cable problems. This blame game only serves to prolong the agony for those affected. In a familiar pattern, both agencies will likely continue to pass the buck while the landlines remain in their comatose state. No matter who is at fault, both agencies will anger citizens further if they waste time bickering.
We want this problem to be resolved at the earliest. People cannot pay such a high price for the Metro work, whether it is landlines of phones going dead or the more serious cracks in buildings. If it is not the Metro construction at fault, then the MTNL needs to fix the issue as soon as possible. We are not living in the Stone Age, where phones go dead in the rain or because of digging. We have moved on to high-tech times, and our facilities must reflect that.
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