200 Uttarakhand border villages to get Jio, BSNL connectivity

People in around 200 villages in Uttarakhand near Indo-Nepal and China border can heave a sigh of relief as they will be provided with Jio and BSNL connectivity, officials said on Monday.

This decision by the state information technology department has come in the wake of extremely poor connectivity and heavy rains for almost a week in the border areas especially in the Kumaon region’s Pithorgarh disrupting banking, post office and other important services in the area causing inconvenience to the locals.

On Monday, the state IT department authorities and BSNL officials along with the district administration of Pithorgarh conducted an inspection and decided to boost connectivity in the far-lying remote areas near the border.
As many as 197 villages in the border area require internet connection, the authorities on field informed on Monday.

Besides, the strategic locations of these villages have also been taken into account while instantly deciding upon upping their connection with the rest of the state.

More often than not locals of these border villages in the hills of Uttarakhand suffer a lot in terms of development gains and the disruption of day-to-day important activities including overall public utility services due to poor internet connectivity, and at times, heavy rains, landslides etc., in the region.

Hari Ranjan Rao, Administrator, Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), who was also part of the inspection team, reached Dharchula via helicopter on Monday and emphasized on the need to have enhanced network connectivity in the border villages due to their strategic importance.

This initiative, the officials said, will not only address digital world related issues but will also help in arresting the migration issue in the hills of Uttarakhand. Furthermore, the district administration will also be able to provide health and education services through online measures, the experts added.

According to the officials, BSNL will provide internet connection to at least 141 villages; whereas, Jio will provide connectivity to the rest of the 56 border villages. Vishwadha News