Road Work Cuts Internet in Calangute; Residents, Hotels Face 5-Hour Blackout
Calangute, April 16: Internet services across major parts of Calangute remained disrupted for nearly five hours on Friday after underground fibre cables were damaged during ongoing road digging work, leaving residents, hotels, restaurants, and working professionals without connectivity. The outage began around 2:30 pm when excavation machinery reportedly severed a main optical fibre line near the busy saint Anthony chapel road towards the Saint Alex church . Broadband, leased lines, and mobile data services of multiple providers were affected, with users reporting “no signal” or severely throttled speeds. Tourist-heavy areas, including beachside hotels, cafes, and booking counters, faced major inconvenience as card machines, UPI payments, and online reservations went offline during peak hours. Several small businesses said they lost customers due to failed digital transactions. Locals alleged that the road work was taken up without proper coordination with telecom service providers or a prior utility map, leading to repeated cable cuts in recent months.
“This is the third time this year. Five hours without internet means five hours of business loss for us,” said a guesthouse owner near Tinto. Service providers rushed technical teams to the site and restoration work was taken up on priority. Connectivity was gradually restored by 10:30 pm, officials confirmed.
Residents and business owners have demanded stricter SOPs for digging works, including mandatory intimation to all utility agencies, supervision by PWD, and penalties for uncoordinated damage. They also sought a public grievance number for quick outage reporting. Panchayat officials said they would take up the issue with the contractor and line departments to ensure such disruptions are avoided, especially during the tourist season. The incident has once again highlighted the need for a common duct policy and centralised utility mapping in high-density areas like Calangute to prevent repeated damage to critical digital infrastructure.
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