Mobile network to get better in Junglemahal

8 November 2011

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 8 NOV: The telecom department has decided to broaden the scope of the strategic mobile communications in Maoist zones to set up a strong intelligence-based network in these areas. Now the remotest areas in Junglemahal of West Midnapore, affected by acute Left-wing extremism, will soon be covered under a mobile loop.
Plans are afoot to include an additional 18 remote districts across the nine Maoist-affected states, including Purulia and Bankura districts of West Bengal, which are part of the famous 8,000 sq km Maoist corridor in West Bengal, a senior official of the telecom department in Kharagpur said.
"The mobile coverage plan has virtually doubled for security reasons. Originally, the government was focusing on Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, but now it is looking at a potential 78 Maoist-hit districts across the nine states. As a result, we will require multiple operators in each of these states," the official said.
"The availability of mobile network in remote fringes of Junglemahal is very vital for setting up a strong intelligence-based network. In Junglemahal, many areas are still outside the mobile network range which virtually hampers easy accessibility into the areas. So, decision to broaden the scope of strategic mobile communication will help the security forces to set up its own intelligence unit even in remote areas," a senior police officer who deals with the Maoist insurgency in Junglemahal said.
Lack of economic development and absence of decent telecommunication links has intensified the Maoist problem in these regions. "The rebels often take shelter in areas where the telecommunication facilities have not reached. Currently, driven out by the security forces, the Maoist’s action squad leaders are hiding in remote areas of Belpahari, Banshpahari and Kantapahari of Jhargram. But it becomes very difficult to trace the rebels hiding in such these areas where telecommunication does not work," said the police officer.
A CPI-M leader in Jhargram said Maoists prefer to keep communication alive through messengers. "They don’t depend on the mobile-connectivity. But when they want to communicate with their higher ranking comrades, they go to the nearby towns and use new cell-numbers," he said.
According to the latest master plan, as many as 15 districts in Orissa, 14 in Jharkhand, 10 in Chhattisgarh, eight in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Bihar, two each in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and one each in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, have been identified as territories affected by acute Left wing extremism.
The telecom department will ask a minimum two operators to roll out mobile networks in remote areas of the Maoist-hit states by early-2012. It has also decided not to reserve any slot for BSNL after it declined to participate in the project without 100 per cent Central compensation, a telecom department official said.