Shutdown of three DD towers unfortunate: Dhindsa

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 6

Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) president and Rajya Sabha member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa on Wednesday termed the shutdown of three Doordarshan towers in Punjab as unfortunate and demanded rollback of the order in this regard.

The towers had been facilitating people of the state through its cultural and family-oriented programmes and the shutdown was disappointing, he said in a statement issued here.

Dhindsa said as per information, three major Doordarshan towers of Punjab would be closed in a phased manner by March 31 next year.

“The broadcasting tower of DD Punjabi in Bathinda has been ordered to shutdown from October 31, in Amritsar on December, 31 and Fazilka on March, 31 next year,” he said.

“The closure of the Punjabi channels has come as a huge shock to the viewers,” he said.

Dhindsa said the projected shutdown of the Doordarshan transmitters was a decision that speaks of lack of farsightedness and should be overruled at any cost.

“I will soon be writing a letter to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur seeking directions to stop the shutdown of the towers,” he said.

Recalling the past days, Dhindsa said when a 135-meter TV tower was set up in Bathinda in 1985, the antennae on the roofs of the people were taken down and people were allowed to watch clean, cultural TV programmes.