LoC residents beset with mobile connectivity issues in Rajouri
Shyam Sood
Rajouri, May 4
People living in 0-25 km from the Line of Control in the Nowshera, Sunderbani, Manjakot and Bhimber Gali areas of Rajouri district face a lot of difficulties in the absence of mobile connectivity. Even the landline phones do not function in the areas.
“People face hardships as they cannot contact their relatives or family members in case of any emergency. Army personnel and sometimes their family members have to walk a few kilometres in search of mobile connectivity,” said Vinod Sharma, a social activist.
“Our area was the worst affected due to the cross-LoC shelling and firing in recent past but there is no mobile phone connectivity,” said Ramesh Choudhry, sarpanch, Kalal panchayat.
The BSNL, the largest telecom service provider in the country, has failed to provide connectivity to remote and border areas in the district.
“The matter of poor mobile phone connectivity came to our notice during public grievances redress camps recently,” said MA Asad, Rajouri Deputy Commissioner.
On Wednesday, Asad convened a meeting of the telecom service providers and expressed his concern over the poor mobile connectivity, especially by the BSNL.
The meeting was attended by Sher Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Inder Pal Singh, JIO centre manager, Anil Kushal, BSNL Sub-Divisional Officer, and the representatives of other telecom companies.
Lambasting the BSNL for providing poor services, the Rajouri Deputy Commissioner directed the BSNL official to upgrade their services to the satisfaction of the consumers and perform their job well.
“The district administration will provide all help to the BSNL to upgrade its services. It can contact the administration in case it faces any difficulty,” he said. Inder Pal Singh said 249 towers had been sanctioned for the JIO in the district and of them, 208 were fully functional.
Asad directed the JIO official to identify the places in border areas, including in Doongi (Rajouri), Kalal and Nonial (Nowshera), where new mobile towers could be installed and also provide a list of border areas where the towers could be installed.
