Abid Bashir
Srinagar (NVI): In Kashmir’s Baramulla district, two remote villages have been without mobile phone connectivity for years, but after the efforts of the administration, mobile phones started ringing for the first time today in these villages.
The two villages fall in the forest belt of Rampura and Rajpora in Sopore area of Baramulla district.
In local parlance, these villages are known as Khudgoo-Mungloo as they have a breathtaking view, topography, waterfalls and a sprawling forest range comprising Deodar trees.
For the people of these twin villages, telecom company Reliance has come to rescue by installing towers and connect the villagers with the rest of the world through mobile phone connectivity and internet services.
Locals of Khudgoo-Mungloo while thanking the Baramulla district administration for the much needed mobile phone connectivity said, “Our children would travel 20 kms to make calls and to use internet. This is for the first time that we are able to make calls from mobiles phones,” said Abdul Aziz, a resident of Khudgoo village, some 30 kms away from the main town of Sopore.
Ajiaz Rashid, a student said that the villagers had been facing immense problems. “Pregnant women were taken to hospital in carts as there was no means to communicate with the hospital authority for seeking ambulance service. Similarly, in case of any fire or other natural calamity, it would take the administration at least six hours to reach the villages,” he said.
He said children had to travel a long distance to attend online classes. “We are now able to make calls and also get in touch with friends, relatives and also take online classed even though the internet speed is 2G only,” Rashid said.
A Reliance official said that it took them almost a year to install towers in the twin villages.
“Due to the difficult terrain and topography of the area, we had to conduct a detailed survey first and check the appropriate places for installation of towers,” he said. “The main challenge was to ensure the range of signal remains within the area as per set norms. Since Baramulla has LoC connecting this part with the other part of Kashmir under Pakistan at present, there were security issues as well.”
It is pertinent to mention that mobile phone services were introduced in J&K in early 2000 from Srinagar and Jammu districts.
-CHK
