Patna district administration on Tuesday sent a letter to the information and public relations depart ment (IPRD) requesting an extension of the deadline for digitisation of cable television in Patna till April 30.

“Though sufficient time was given to the cable TV operators to install set-top boxes, there is still a huge backlog for the gadgets in the city. Several local cable TV operators have approached us in this regard after the deadline for digitisation in the city passed on Sunday midnight. Considering the ground realities, we have sent a letter to the IPRD recommending an extension of the deadline,” said Arvind Kumar Tiwari, the additional district magistrate of Patna, who is also the nodal officer for digitisation in the state capital.

He added that the Union ministry of information and broadcasting can only grant the extension.

“If the IPRD considers the request genuine, it would forward the letter to the ministry, which would take the final call. It would take the ministry a couple of days to arrive at any decision,” he said.

Brajesh Mehrotra, the secretary of IPRD, said he would meet a delegation of local cable TV operators on Wednesday and hear their demands out.

“I am not aware of the present scenario in the digitisation of cable TVs in Patna. Several cable operators have approached us. I have fixed a meeting with them on Wednesday to discuss the issue. Though I understand that complete digitisation in the city may take some time, any extension can be granted only by the ministry (of information and broadcasting),” said Mehrotra.

On Tuesday, analogue signals were being transmitted without interruptions, despite the deadline lapse.

“Except for initial hiccups after the digitisation deadline ended on Sunday midnight, we are beaming analogue signals for all channels as usual,” said Rakesh Kumar, the owner of Om Hardware Cable Network, a local cable operator based in Kurji.

Residents, too, are elated that their cable TVs are running without interruptions.

“I have not installed a digital set-top box yet. However, I can still see all the channels on my television set,” said Nihar Hisariya, a resident of Exhibition Road.

Though the ultimate onus for ceasing the transmission of analogue signals lies with the multi-system operators (MSOs), they have not pulled the plug yet.

“The government did not give us sufficient time to install set-top boxes. Against the demand of 4 lakh boxes in Patna, not even 1 lakh have been installed. If we stop transmitting analogue signals at such a time, people would blame us. It can even lead to protests. In public interest, we are not going to stop transmitting analogue signals at present,” said Rajnish Dikshit, the director of SITI Maurya Cablenet Pvt. Ltd.

At the same time, the city is facing acute shortage of set-top boxes. “We have not been able to install any set-top box for the past couple of days because there are no boxes available with us. The next consignment of boxes is expected to arrive within two or three days,” said an employee of Raja Cable Network at Abhiyanta Nagar.