India, Feb. 28 -- Even as the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has banned overhead cables, it has allowed Mahatma Phule Renewable Energy and Infrastructure Technology (MahaPreit), a state government public sector unit, to install 500 kilometres of fibre optical cable using streetlamp posts.

MahaPreit has been given the work order to set up the optical fibre cable (OFC) network under the central government's integrated command and control centre initiative that will help monitor natural disasters. The centre will connect offices, schools, and hospitals via the internet. Under the Urban Flood Risk Management scheme, the Centre has allocated Rs.250 crore for Pune city after clearing the proposal a year ago.

To create a 500-kilometre optica...