Students in Kargil struggle with poor internet services

Kargil, May 26

Amid reports of students walking long distances outside their villages in search of a mobile network for online classes, authorities in Kargil are hopeful of providing uninterrupted internet connectivity to the people in the coming months across the border district in Ladakh.

Dozens of students from different villages, including Shimsha and Karkit in Drass, have to travel three kilometers daily to a hill along the Srinagar-Leh national highway to ensure their presence in the virtual classrooms due to the closure of schools in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

A video of one such group from Shimsha is making the rounds on social media with students, both girls and boys, seen sitting on a roadside gravel hill busy attending their classes under the open sky.

“Unfortunately, we do not have internet connectivity in our village despite repeated requests for the facility and had to foot the 3 kilometre distance from our home to attend the online class,” one of the students said.

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Another student said they have selected the location as “we do not want to go to a nearby village which is one kilometre further ahead due to the threat of the pandemic.” A girl said they are facing a lot of problems while travelling to and fro the place but have no other choice.

According to officials, Ladakh is connected to Srinagar with a single cable line at present and interruption occurs sometimes due to heavy traffic of users.

“For smooth and uninterrupted connectivity, the work on the VTL PGCIL fibre cable from Srinagar side is going on. Around 80 per cent of the laying work of the optical fibre cable has already been completed, while the remaining 20 per cent will be completed within the period of three to four months,” an official of BSNL said.

The officials said all possible measures are being taken to provide smooth mobile and internet services to the consumers while work on strengthening the infrastructure by way of installation of mobile towers at different locations is being carried out. PTI