DoT Takes Stock Of Cyclone Amphan's Impact On Telecom; Lists Out Sites With Connectivity Issues

As per recent reports, other than causing severe damage to property, super cyclone 'Amphan' has also claimed 72 lives in West Bengal.

The officials decided on steps required to repair maximum damaged cables in the next 24 hours. (Getty Image)

New Delhi: Cyclone Amphan has caused widespread damage to telecom networks in West Bengal, and in Odisha. To review the situation, Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash on Thursday evening chaired a high level meeting with telecom operators and infrastructure providers where he discussed on various measures to ensure services in the cyclone Amphan-hit states of West Bengal and Odisha. The meeting was reportedly attended by all telecos, infrastructure providers, representatives from West Bengal Telecom Circle, Estern Telecom Region, CGMT Odisha, Tower & Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) and COAI, to list out all the sites where the towers are down and cuts have occurred in optical fibre cables. According to the reports, the officials decided on steps required to repair maximum damaged cables in the next 24 hours. As per the statement quoted by an IANS report, Secretary of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked both Airtel and Vodafone Idea to get 1,000 sites working in the next 24 hours. It also asked CGM WBTC to provide a priority list of the sites which require urgent power to be restored. Meanwhile, all the TSPs and IPs have been asked to give an updated list to the Secretary at 8 a.m. on Friday. Elaborating on the damage caused by the cyclone, Director-General of TAIPA T.R. Dua was quoted as saying, "70 per cent of the sites are working on DGs and after every 8 hours DG set has to take rest, so restoration of power is very critical for getting sites back to functional especially in Kolkata." "Also, at a few situations, we have come across issue of manpower not being allowed because of the road blockages, we have requested state authorities to resolve this issue at the earliest," Dua added. As per recent reports, other than causing severe damage to property, super cyclone 'Amphan' has also claimed 72 lives in West Bengal. To take stock of the situation in the wake of Cyclone Amphan, PM Narendra Modi will conduct an aerial survey over West Bengal and Odisha on Friday. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh to the families of the deceased.