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Government Takes Measures to Prevent Damage to Underground Utilities During Telecom Cable Laying

March 11, 2026 5 min read Polity & Governance Science & Technology GS Paper 3 (Technology Infrastructure)
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What Happened

  • Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed the Lok Sabha that the government has implemented several measures to prevent accidental damage to drinking water pipelines and other underground utilities during telecommunications infrastructure deployment.
  • The measures centre on the Call Before you Dig (CBuD) mobile app — a coordination platform between telecom excavation agencies and underground utility asset owners (water, electricity, gas pipelines, OFC cables).
  • The government has requested all States/UTs and central infrastructure ministries to map their underground utility assets on the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (GIS platform), making them accessible to excavation agencies before digging begins.
  • Telecom infrastructure deployment is governed by the Telecommunications (Right of Way) Rules, 2024, made under the Telecommunications Act, 2023 — through a digital application portal called Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal.
  • The measures reflect the challenge of India's rapid OFC (Optical Fibre Cable) rollout under BharatNet, which has crossed 214,000 gram panchayats but requires extensive ground trenching that risks damaging pre-existing utilities.

Static Topic Bridges

Telecommunications (Right of Way) Rules, 2024 and the Telecom Act, 2023

The Telecommunications Act, 2023 replaced the antiquated Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, modernising India's telecom regulatory framework. The Right of Way (RoW) Rules, 2024 made under this Act govern how telecom companies obtain permission to lay infrastructure on public and private land.

  • Telecommunications Act, 2023: Grants the central government powers to regulate spectrum, telecom infrastructure, and telecom security. Replaces 1885 and 1933 Acts.
  • RoW Rules, 2024: Facility providers (telecom companies) must apply for RoW permissions through the Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal (digital, time-bound process). Public authorities must process applications within 67 days.
  • Application must include: Type of infrastructure, as-built drawings, estimated duration of work, and specific measures to minimise damage to existing utilities.
  • Uniform RoW charges: Central government has set standardised, low charges (or zero charges in many cases) for RoW on central government land — to reduce the cost and friction of telecom rollout.
  • State-level friction: Different states historically imposed widely varying (and high) RoW charges; the uniform central rules override this for cross-state infrastructure.
  • TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India): Recommends spectrum pricing, service quality standards, and interconnection regulations; established under TRAI Act, 1997.

Connection to this news: The utility damage problem arises precisely because rapid telecom expansion requires extensive underground trenching. The RoW Rules, 2024 now mandate that excavation applications include specific protective measures — converting what was previously an informal courtesy into a regulatory obligation.

BharatNet and India's Rural Broadband Mission

BharatNet is one of the world's largest rural broadband infrastructure projects, funded and executed by the central government with the objective of providing high-speed broadband connectivity to all 250,000+ gram panchayats (GPs) in India.

  • Implementing agency: Bharat Broadband Network Ltd (BBNL), merged with BSNL in 2023.
  • Target: 100 Mbps broadband to every GP via Optical Fibre Cable (OFC).
  • Progress (as of mid-2024): 214,000+ GPs connected; 0.69 million km of OFC laid.
  • Funding: Budget allocation through Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), managed by DoT.
  • Last-mile connectivity: GPs served by BharatNet can offer Wi-Fi hotspots to villages; local bodies, CSC (Common Service Centres) can deliver e-governance services.
  • Challenges: Poor quality of work in Phase 1 (many OFC cables non-functional due to trenching damage); Phase 2 focuses on quality and redundancy.
  • PM-WANI (Wi-Fi Access Network Interface): Allows any PDO (Public Data Office) to offer public Wi-Fi using BharatNet infrastructure.

Connection to this news: The underground utility damage problem is directly relevant to BharatNet: Phase 1's high incidence of non-functioning OFC cables was partly due to accidental damage during re-excavation by other agencies. The CBuD app and PM GatiShakti mapping are designed to prevent this in Phase 2 and subsequent rollouts.

PM GatiShakti and GIS-Based Infrastructure Coordination

PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP) is a GIS-based digital platform launched in October 2021 that integrates infrastructure data across 16 ministries and all states into a single visual map — enabling coordinated planning and preventing the problem of one department digging up another's work.

  • Platform: National Master Plan (NMP) hosted by BISAG-N (Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics) on behalf of DPIIT.
  • Data layers: Roads, railways, waterways, ports, airports, power transmission, gas pipelines, telecom, water utilities.
  • CBuD (Call Before you Dig) app: Sub-component of GatiShakti — specifically for excavation coordination. When any agency needs to dig, they query the CBuD app which alerts all asset owners with infrastructure in that location.
  • All central and state government asset owners have been requested to upload utility maps to the NMP — but compliance is incomplete as of early 2026.
  • Network Planning Group (NPG): Inter-ministerial body using GatiShakti data to evaluate infrastructure projects before Cabinet approval.
  • National Logistics Policy (2022): Companion policy to GatiShakti; target to reduce logistics cost from ~14% to under 8% of GDP.

Connection to this news: The Minister's statement that states are being asked to map underground utilities on PM GatiShakti is precisely the expansion of GatiShakti from surface infrastructure planning into subsurface utility management. When complete, this will enable any excavation agency to see all underground assets (water, electricity, gas, OFC) at a given location before digging — a multi-modal coordination breakthrough.

Key Facts & Data

  • CBuD app: Call Before you Dig — mobile app coordinating excavation agencies with underground utility owners.
  • Telecommunications Act, 2023: Replaced Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933.
  • RoW Rules, 2024: Facility providers apply via Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal; public authorities must respond within 67 days.
  • PM GatiShakti NMP: Launched October 2021; 16 ministries + all states; GIS-based integrated infrastructure map.
  • BharatNet: 214,000+ GPs connected; 0.69 million km OFC laid (as of mid-2024); BBNL merged into BSNL (2023).
  • USOF (Universal Service Obligation Fund): Finances BharatNet and rural telecom expansion.
  • TRAI: Established under TRAI Act, 1997; regulates spectrum pricing, interconnection, quality of service.
  • Challenge addressed: Phase 1 BharatNet OFC damage during re-excavation — CBuD + GatiShakti mapping is the systemic fix.
  • India's OFC network target: 1 million+ km under BharatNet and private rollout.