Poor Internet signal, village students forced to scale hilltops

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, September 4

To continue their online studies amid the pandemic, many students have been trekking to hilltops everyday for a better Internet connectivity.

These students have been ignoring the dangers associated with the trek for the last few months. A girl student said, “We often came across snakes in forests on our way but we do not have any other option if we want to study.” Educational institutes have been closed due to Covid and learning has shifted online which requires smart phones and a good Internet connectivity.

Students from villages in the Dhauladhar hills and lower area of Palampur have been regularly trekking to reach nearby hilltops to get a strong signal for their mobile phones.

“We come here at 9 am daily and return home by 1 pm after our classes get over,” said six students of different villages in Jaisinghpur, who are studying in different schools and colleges. These students sit on rocks with no shelter overhead.

“When it rains, we sit under umbrellas and wait for the weather to clear as the signal gets affected,” said a student. Though the area has mobile towers of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and other private companies, but locals say that the Internet connectivity is very poor.