Imran Boniyari
In the middle of the Himalayas, a village in Pir Panjal ranges remains far away from mobile internet connectivity and landline service in this 21st century.
Limber village of bordering town Uri in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district, which is almost 81 km away from the summer capital of Jammu Kashmir has been cut off from the rest of the world due to the unavailability of network connectivity.
Syed Rizwan (21), a BBA student of a private college in Jalandhar, Panjab, walks almost 3 km per day through the hilly forests and the muddy pathways to find a spot where his phone catches a signal to attend his online classes.
“Since the COVID-19 outbreak, we are supposed to attend classes through the online mode but interrupted internet access has created problems for us,” says Rizwan.
Farooq Ahmad, a senior citizen of this village, told The Kashmiriyat that in the COVID-19 pandemic, after vaccination in the tehsil headquarters, he was supposed to get message confirmation but has received none due to the same.
Some of the families of this village whose ancestors belonged to this soil have left their houses and are currently residing in Srinagar and Baramulla in rented accommodations, wherein they’ve to pay a very high amount of rents to their landlords.
Another local resident, who wished not to be named in an emotional tone, spoke to The Kashmiriyat, “I am 71 years old and today I am looking at how our future generations are leaving this place and are shifting to other places. They’re leaving their ancestors’ places for the better life of their children”.
Qamar Aijaz (28), who is a prominent Urdu poet and writer hailing from the Limber village, while expressing his disappointment and anger towards the administration told The Kashmiriyat that he, along with some locals approached Higher authorities several times, but no action has been taken. Qamar further added that their generations were suffering due to this internet curfew in the village.
Lifeless Mobile Towers in Kashmir –
The mobile towers installed by telecom companies do not function. People from 29 villages, who live along the Line of Control, yearn for internet access. There is no mobile connectivity at all.
Recently, a couple of videos from Kamalkote village of north Kashmir’s Uri went viral. People, mostly children, were seen appealing to the Lieutenant Governor to ensure mobile connectivity in the area so that children avail the benefits of online classes.
Besides Kamalkote, the ‘lifeless’ Jio towers have been installed in villages like Madian, Gohallan, Dudran, Salasan and Bernate.
A local resident hailing from the Zamboorpattan village of Uri, Abdul Khalik Khatan, said that frustration has engulfed them as nothing is being done to mitigate their sufferings. “Sometimes it feels as if we were living in a ‘No-Man’s land. Nobody cares about us. Time and again, we took the issue to the local Tehsildar and concerned SDM, but nothing changed,” he said.
What Officials Say About It-
Syed Muhammad Khalid, an official from Jio Company, said because it was a hilly area, the signal always remained weak in Uri villages. “Towers have been installed but the area is hilly. Besides distance from one to another village is very long,” he said, adding that matter is being looked into and that to ensure smooth connectivity and internet access every measure will be taken.
When The Kashmiriyat tried contacting the newly appointed SDM of Subdivision Uri (where Limber village falls), he did not respond.