Sunday, 13 March 2022 | Prem Prakash Upadhyay | Bageshwar
Despite the efforts of the Central and State governments to expand mobile and digital connectivity in Uttarakhand, residents of various mountainous regions continue to suffer daily due to lack of proper mobile phone and internet connectivity. The government has so far failed to take concrete steps to effectively resolve this problem. On the other hand, private companies install their towers and network infrastructure mainly guided by the profit motive. The results in the end do not favour the common public especially in a mountainous state like Uttarakhand with scattered populations in rural mountainous regions. Be it students, youth struggling for employment, employees or businessmen, all are being affected negatively by the problem of connectivity. In the Pithoragarh and Champawat districts of Kumaon region which share border with Nepal and China respectively, the availability of mobile phone connectivity is also vital from a strategic point of view. However, in reality the situation is far from satisfactory. Similarly, in the Bageshwar, Thal, Ghat, Seraghat, Kapkot, Berinag and Almora the availability of mobile phone signals is not reliable. The locals complain that many mobile phone service providers claim to provide 4G connectivity but provide 2G speeds. Considering that many important government services and tasks are now done online, the lack of proper digital connectivity is proving inconvenient for the locals. Rajesh Joshi, who runs Devbhumi Jan Seva Kendra in Bageshwar city says that when the connectivity is good, then there is work throughout the day, otherwise one has to sit idle all day. This makes it difficult to meet the household expenses.
Chanda Tanganiya, a third-semester student of BSc says that when she comes home from college and searches for her topic on the net, it takes too long for the web page to open which disrupts her studies. Apart from students, those in online trade and other trades are also unhappy with the situation.
If connectivity increases and the internet picks up some speed and the signal’s accessibility is guaranteed then only the people can be self-employed in a sustainable manner. The BSNL sub divisional officer in Bageshwar, Anand Kholia said, “The BSNL has also started 4G service to increase connectivity. But due to there being no increase in revenue, there are no plans to increase infrastructure here in the future.”
