Govt to install more mobile towers in Tawang for better connectivity after India-China clash

Tawang Deputy Commissioner KN Damo told PTI that BSNL and Bharti Airtel will install 23 new mobile towers to improve connectivity.

“The existing towers did not provide the desired services, which not only caused problems for the army, but also the civilians living along the border,” he said.

Earlier, there was no mobile network in the border areas, but the situation has now changed with residents enjoying internet service and mobile connectivity even at Bum-La and Y-Junction, but more improvement is needed, he added.

“Defence areas were given priority for the installations, while civilian areas such as Mago, Chuna and Niliya (near Zemithang) were also not neglected,” said Damo.

The district administration has asked for 43 new towers, he said.

The official said that all preparations are in place for the installation of the new towers, but winter will pose a challenge, which could delay the process.

Although the hills of the district received snowfall, the headquarters town witnessed snowfall for the first time on Sunday evening with the mercury dropping to -3 degrees Celsius.

The government had earlier said that it was doing infrastructure development in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh. While talking to the news agency ANIchief engineer of ‘Project Vartak’, Brig Raman Kumar said, “Border Roads Organization (BRO) develops and maintains all road networks in the key border areas of western Assam and western Arunachal Pradesh.”

“We have national highways, single-lane roads, dual-lane roads and other types of roads as well. We want to connect even the far-flung areas of Tawang district and contribute to the socio-economic development of this area,” he said. He also informed that two tunnels Sela and Nechipu tunnel are under construction as vehicular movement becomes difficult due to heavy snowfall during winter.

Chinese and Indian troops engaged in fighting in Tawang on 9 December.

The government claimed that India made a “firm and determined” response and forced a retreat. On December 13, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh also informed the Rajya Sabha that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops attempted to cross the Line of Actual Control in the Yangtse area of ​​Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh and the to change status quo unilaterally but they were forced to retreat to their positions due to the timely intervention of Indian troops.