Although telecom department officials said the disrupted phone lines would be resorted by late evening, lakhs of citizens suffered heavy losses and inconvenience because of the disruption. The city's business activity was thrown severely out of gear with more than half of the city remaining cut off from the rest.

All telephones of the Udhna, Majura, Piplod, Rander, Moa and Nanpura exchanges went dead at 9.30 a.m. after the SMC workers, who were laying drainage pipes opposite Sarvodaya Market on Ring Road, cut the cable.

Speaking to Express Newsline, telecom department AGM (Public Grievances) Bhattacharya said that a large force had already been rushed to the spot to rectify the problem. ``The OFC seems to have been cut accidentally, and we regret the inconvenience that is being caused to the public,'' he said.

There have been dozens of telephone disruptions in the past year, reportedly because of irresponsible digging by the public works department, SMC, and the Roads and Buildings Department of the district administration.