[ Bengia Ajum ]
ITANAGAR, 18 Oct: Taksing, one of the remotest places in the state, located in Upper Subansiri district, was connected to the rest of the country through a mobile network on October 20, 2019.
As villagers mark four years since BSNL installed the mobile network, locals, along with army personnel posted in the area, have decided to christen the tower as the “Prerna Tower” – a symbol of perseverance and hope.
The decision to name it the Prerna Tower has a backstory dating back to early 2019 when the discontinuation of digital satellite phone terminal (DSPT) services disrupted communication links to remote parts of India that were yet to be reached by mobile networks, including Taksing.
Prerna Arora Naidu, originally from Delhi and the wife of an Indian army officer, visited Taksing with her two children and was moved by the plight of the villagers and the soldiers stationed there. She wrote several letters to various individuals, including high-ranking officials in the state and central governments, seeking a mobile network connection for Taksing.
As the days turned into months, the hope of erecting a mobile tower in this remote village seemed elusive. “Then, on a fateful morning in October 2019, my inbox lit up with an email from the Office of the Chief Minister, Pema Khandu. The message conveyed a resounding assurance that the CM’s office had taken note of the issue, and BSNL would soon establish mobile communication in Taksing. True to his words, the mobile tower was airlifted to the village, culminating in the historic moment when, on October 20, 2019, Taksing was finally connected to the rest of the country through a mobile network,” she shares.
Taksing was connected by road in May 2018 when the Border Roads Organization (BRO) completed the Tama Chung Chung (TCC) – Taksing road.
The work on the TCC – Taksing road started in 2009. Located near the sensitive India-China border, Taksing is strategically important from a national security perspective.