Kupwara residents deprived of mobile connectivity, basic telecom facility
Srinagar: Tall claims by successive dispensations on upgrading mobile connectivity in rural areas have fallen flat in Tarathpora Tehsil of Kupwara district, where residents remain without mobile service.
According to Kashmir Media Service, locals said the Hafrada Payeen, a remote village village, comprises at least 200 households with a population of more than 2,000, yet it has been deprived of the basic right of telecommunications, leaving inhabitants disconnected and struggling in emergencies.
The residents complained that they are forced to walk several kilometers to a specific hilly spot to get signal, only then managing to make and receive calls. They said that during medical emergencies, people face severe hardships and cannot contact relatives immediately.
“Our mobile phones are of no use once we reach home. They serve as mere playing gadgets during evening hours,” a government employee of the area said. Students face the worst impact due to lack of internet access.
A group of students preparing for exams said they cannot even contact each other to clear doubts. “Surfing the internet in our village has been a distant dream for years now,” said a job aspirant.
Residents said they have raised the issue with the authorities multiple times but received no response. They have now appealed to newly posted Deputy Commissioner Kupwara, Shrikant Balasaheb Suse, to intervene immediately and address their grievances.The continued lack of connectivity has added to the sense of neglect among people in the area, who say that in the digital age, being cut off from communication networks amounts to a denial of a fundamental facility.
