Buxa: Pestered with no or patchy network, the dwellers of 16 villages of Buxa Hills have set up 'Mobile Viewpoints', the designated spots where the coverage is good enough for making calls to friends and family members living afar.
Sometimes, tourists are greeted by bottles hanging from trees. They are not for amusement but for keeping mobile phones at the right angle to get network. People of the village have to walk to these dedicated places to receive calls or send messages. Even local students can't take online courses due to the unavailability of stable networks.
Buxa Fort, Lepchakha, Adma, Tasigaon and Chunavati are some of the sixteen villages that fall in the blind zone. Santlabari of Buxa Fort has the only mobile tower of a private telecom company which covers limited users in the left portion of the hill where the designated Mobile Viewpoints have been set up. The people are demanding the immediate installation of mobile towers in Buxa Hill to get rid of the menace.
"We leave our mobile phones at a dedicated network to get network so that we can speak to the family members. A new tower will fix the connectivity issue forever," Intejam Dukpa, a resident of Lepchakha, said.
"There is no network coverage as we live in the hinterlands. We have no option but to search for it at the designated spots. It's becoming unbearable for us to venture out every time for networks. We want the government to know our precarity and how our children are being deprived of online classes. We are forced to keep them outside due to the patchy coverage," Finsu Dukpa, a resident said.
Sounding positive on the matter, Bijoy Karmakar, deputy general manager of BSNL Jalpaiguri division said, "We have surveyed to set up some mobile towers in Buxa. However, we need clearance from the environment ministry to install them in core areas. Work will start soon after getting the go-ahead."
"The Post Office is unable to function due to no network. We are forced to halt all online transactions. Setting up mobile towers will fix the issue," Srijan Thapa, postmaster of Buxa Post Office said.
However, Mithun Majumder, BDO of Kalchini block in Alipurduar, said there is no current plan to install mobile towers.
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