ITANAGAR, Jul 17: Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Friday asked the Indian Army and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to expedite work on laying optical fibre cables (OFC) to provide 3G internet connectivity in the remote and border areas of the state.
Taking stock of the progress “on the sharing of OFC between Indian Army and the BSNL” through a videoconference, Mein expressed happiness over the progress made so far “despite the difficult terrains and inclement weathers.”
Lauding the efforts of the army and the BSNL, he urged them to expedite the process, saying that internet connectivity has become a necessity during the Covid-19 pandemic “as we have to rely on digital communication in order to minimize physical meeting to contain the spread of coronavirus.”
He added: “Due to difficult terrain and disruption of surface road communications due to landslides triggered by heavy downpour in various places, it has become more essential to have internet connectivity, particularly in remote and border areas.”
The DCM also asked all the deputy commissioners to coordinate with the army and the BSNL in order to expedite the project implementation.
Dinjan-based 2 Mountain Division GOC (HQ), Maj Gen Sanjiv Chauhan assured to expedite the process and share the status of the work regularly with the state government.
2 Mountain Division Signal Regiment Commanding Officer, Col Milan Patnaik presented a report on the progress made so far, and informed that the inclement weather and road blocks in some sectors have delayed the progress of work.
However, he informed that “the civil administration and the police can avail V-Sat services in remote places like Kibithoo, Walong, Chaklagham and Anini for disaster management and other administrative services.”
Ways to connect OFCs from Chongkham to Tezu via the Alubari bridge, and from Roing to Anini were also discussed.
IGP HGS Dhaliwal and BSNL GM Arung Siram also attended the videoconference. (DCM’s PR Cell)
