Public sector telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam ltd (BSNl) has installed 146 new mobile towers in the insurgency infested districts of Chhattisgarh.
This information was provided by Chief Minister Raman Singh to Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad during his recent visit to the national capital.
A proposal for installation of 40 more mobile towers in the insurgency infested districts has also been made to the Central Government. With installation of these towers, mobile connectivity in Bastar region is going to witness significant improvement, officials stated.
Notably, Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand in the month of August this year had informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi that out of the 497 mobile towers approved for the left Wing Extremism (lWE) regions in Chhattisgarh, a total of 465 have been installed.
In a video conference with the Prime Minister who was reviewing the infrastructural development status in various states, Dhand informed Modi that a total of 415 mobile towers have also started operating in the lWE regions of Chhattisgarh.
The Chief Secretary had stated that BSNl in co-operation with Chhattisgarh government had performed commendable work in the lWE regions which had led to completion of 94 per cent of the work of installation of mobile towers in South Bastar and Surguja regions of the State.
He further informed the Prime Minister that the 765 Kv Transmission line which is being laid by Powergrid Corporation is 357 kms long and 113 kms part of the line would be located in Chhattisgarh.
Dhand had stated that a total of 148 transmission towers had already been erected while work is underway to erect another 154 towers.
Dhand said that work on 16 kms of Transmission line had already been achieved.
BSNl has been asked to ensure availability spare batteries for mobile towers, so that the used up batteries may be replaced by new ones immediately, officials stated.
Besides, BSNl has also been given instructions to keep batteries in reserve for towers located in insurgency infested areas.It has been asked to provide proper training to local youths and police personnel for maintenance of these towers, officials stated.
The mobile towers being installed in the remote pockets not served by conventional power supply are to be powered using solar energy equipment in the insurgency infested Bastar division.
A directive in this regard was issued by Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand in a high-level meeting of State and Central government officials in the month of April this year.
Notably, Chhattisgarh is among five insurgency infested states which have been working feverishly towards meeting all the project deadlines prescribed by the Centre for left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected districts.
The Centre has asked lWE affected states for adhering to the time-lines for appropriate utilization of budget available with them for developing infrastructure in the left Wing Extremism (lWE) districts.
A meeting held in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in the month of September this year under the chairmanship of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary to review left Wing Extremism (lWE) in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar in New Delhi. During the meeting, apart from operational issues certain developmental issues such as roads, mobile towers and infrastructure in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) centres were reviewed.
Chaudhary had asked the Directors General of CAPFs to adhere to the time-lines for appropriate utilization of budget available with them. The issues of coordination between the State Police and CAPFs were also discussed and better and enhanced cooperation on the ground was emphasized.
The meeting was attended by Rajiv Mehrishi, Union Home Secretary, DGs of CAPFs, DGs of State Police and Principal Secretaries (Home) from the concerned States and Senior Officers of the MHA.
It may also be recalled that the Central government announced in the month of March this year that it has approved a revised cost of Rs3045 crore under its Road Requirement Plan (RRP) for improvement of road connectivity in left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected areas of Chhattisgarh.
Overall, the Centre has approved a Road Requirement Plan (RRP) for improvement of road connectivity in left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected areas of a total of 34 Districts in 8 States covering 5477 km length (1126 km NHs & 4351 km State Roads).