MPs Upset Over BSNL’s Delay In Installing Mobile Towers

Pratap Simha and R. Dhruvanarayana, MPs of Mysuru and Chamarajnagar respectively, on Tuesday expressed displeasure over the delay in the installation of mobile towers in the flood-hit Kodagu and Chamarajnagar districts despite serious connectivity problems there.

At the Telecom Advisory Committee meeting here, Mr. Simha took the Principal General Manager of Mysuru Telecom District K.L. Jayaram to task for not installing the towers even though 32 had been sanctioned for Mysuru and Kodagu districts. “People in Kodagu They have had a harrowing time with regard to communication during the floods. BSNL should take up the work on priority and install the towers with immediate effect,” he said.

Mr. Jayaram said 15 towers would be installed in the next 15 days and added that the land for the same had been identified. He cited technical issues and the recent floods as reasons for the delay.

BSNL has 101 3G towers and 125 2G towers in Kodagu district. Likewise, Airtel has 185 4G towers, 121 3G towers and 146 2G towers, while RJIL (Jio) has 254 4G towers here.

Mr. Simha told the BSNL engineer in-charge of Kodagu district to join him for the inspection after the completion of the installation.

MGNREGA scheme

Mr. Dhruvanarayana said the delay had led to problems in the implementation of MGNREGA scheme, which is faced with Internet connectivity issues. The gram panchayats in Chamarajnagar district were lacking high speed Internet, he said, adding that 15 towers had been sanctioned to the district.

The Chamarajnagar MP told Mr. Jayaram that he should have informed them about the lack of available land so that the Revenue Department could have been told of the same. “There are connectivity problems in Nanjangud and Meenyam. With six months left for the elections, you have not complied with my suggestions and are citing problems of non-availability of land. What should I tell the public,” he asked.He asked BSNL officials to look for private land if government land was not available for installing towers.

Both MPs asked BSNL to face the competition posed by the private operators to survive in the market. When Mr. Jayaram cited the criterion of economical viability for installing the towers, the MPs asked him to submit the action taken report (ATR) of the meeting and the directions they had given to him. – The Hindu