Cable TV in several areas suffered a 'snag'

AHMEDABAD: Blame it on Operation Kalank if you wish. Even as the state waited impatiently before TV sets to watch the telecast of the Tehelka expose, they were greeted with blank screens in many areas.

Although speculations about a threat from the administration for airing the exposure could not be ascertained immediately, cable operators apprehensive about possible repercussions claimed that the telecast could have been snapped as a “voluntary move”.

The telecast of the sting operation began at 7 pm. The main cable operator of the city, Citi Cable, reported smooth functioning of its network. Head of Citi Cable Padmakant Trivedi claimed that ‘his network’ was in place, and the fault could be at the distributors’ end.

Inquiries revealed that there was a technical problem with one of its sub-distributors Antariksh Cable. Antariksh covers Vastrapur, Thaltej, Bopal, Shahibaugh, Ashram Road, Navrangpura, Shahpur, Bodakdev, CG Road, Naranpura. All channels coming through Antariksh were blocked since evening on Thursday.

Owner of Antariksh Cable Ashwin Punjabi said that there was a snag and no national channel could be aired. Only the local video channel was operational.

Even as the offices of Antariksha Cables were inundated with calls, the operator ran a scroll on movie channels to pacify irate consumers.

Anand Shah of Shri Krishna Communications affiliated to In Cable confirmed there was no disturbance in the areas covered under his network. Mr Shah added that there wass no pressure from anyone to stop the coverage of the programme.