Pithoragarh (Uttrakhand): Kunwar Singh Kutiyal, a resident of Kuti village in Uttarakhand's Vyas Valley, has raised the concern of unavailability of Indian mobile towers in the region near the India-Nepal border following which locals have become dependent on Nepalese infrastructure to connect to the world outside. Representing thousands of villagers of three localities including Vyas Valley, Chaundas valley and Dharchula sub-division in Pithoragarh district, Kutiyal has demanded better communication facilities with the help of proper installation of Indian mobile towers to cater to the needs of people.
According to the people of Changru village, the Nepalese government recently provided Wi-Fi facilities in the area on its side of the border to strengthen communication for their security personnel deputed at a post there.
Few locals manage to procure Nepalese SIM cards and use them to get Internet and phone connectivity by latching onto Nepalese network.
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Around 40,000 villagers in about 40 villages in these localities have no connectivity. As many as 3,000 of them rely on Nepalese Internet connection, Dharchula Sub-Divisional Magistrate AK Shukla said on Tuesday.
He said that poor connectivity also hampers the implementation of flagship government schemes in the border villages.
"Due to the lack of proper network facilities in most parts of Dharchula sub-division, payments related to MGNREGA works cannot be made to the beneficiaries nor can online classes be held in sub-divisional schools," Shukla said.
We need a strong and dependable network for communication at Dharchula border with Nepal, the SDM said.
The Vyas Valley is adjacent to Indian territory of Kalapani, which Nepal recently claimed as its own.
Villagers have approached the administration several times in the past with the demand to bolster mobile network infrastructure and submitted multiple memorandums, Shukla said.
There is just one low-capacity BSNL mobile tower at Dharchula which barely meets even the town's requirements, he added.
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A section has tried to justify the poor connectivity, saying that it is meant to deny Internet access to smugglers and criminals operating in the border, but it does not hold much ground as Nepalese network is widely available in the area, Shukla said.
In the light of the facts, the communication policy at the India-Nepal border needs to be reviewed as better communication facilities to border people is the need of the hour, the SDM said.
Congress MLA from Dharchula, Harish Dhami, claimed that he has offered his MLA funds to create a better communication facility in the region.
"I am ready to give whatever money is required for installing basic infrastructure of communication at the India-Nepal and India-China border," Dhami said.
According to residents of the Vyas Valley, three Nepalese mobile companies cover around 186 km length (north-south), from Kalapani to Pancheshwar, with their mobile towers at different locations.
According to Krishna Garbiyal, a resident of Garbiyang village in Vyas Valley, they get strong Nepalese network up to 15 km inside Indian territory.
MS Waldia, a retired army colonel, said that Indian citizens using Nepalese SIM cards and networks pose a threat to national security.
"The government should pay more attention to the communication needs of border villages in view of Nepal's recent aggressiveness towards India," Waldia said.
Almora MP Ajay Tamta said that BSNL is conducting a survey in the area to assess the communication needs of people.
As soon as the survey gets completed, work on installing towers will be started, Tamta added.
India-Nepal relations hit a rough patch recently after Nepal completed the process of redrawing the nation's political map through a Constitutional amendment, incorporating three strategically important Indian areas: Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura.
India has termed as "untenable" the "artificial enlargement" of the territorial claims by Nepal.
(With inputs from PTI)
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