Amritsar: Farmers ask a vendor (centre) selling SIM cards of the Reliance Jio telecommunications company to close his stall as they protest against corporate businesses during a demonstration against the Indian government’s agricultural reforms. AFP
NEW DELHI: Authorities in India’s northern state of Punjab are investigating whether protesting farmers were disrupting power supply to hundreds of telecom towers, a state official said on Monday, amid protests over new farm laws.
“We have told the police to track all those involved in sabotaging the infrastructure,” a senior official in the Punjab state government said.
A senior Punjab state police official said the power supply was disrupted to several telecom towers in the state, mainly ones owned by Jio, the telecommunications arm of Reliance Industries.
Farm protests: Hooligans destroying mobile towers are denting India s image and harming farmers cause These incidents are taking place at a time when Indian recession-hit economy is struggling to turn around and looking for foreign investments. The violence and vandalism make a mockery of India’s effort to showcase itself as a land of opportunity and undermine efforts to be a part of global supply chains. Sreemoy Talukdar December 29, 2020 17:15:13 IST File image from the ongoing farmers protests on Delhi borders . PTI
It is interesting that Captain Amarinder Singh is issuing stern warning to vandals in Punjab who are destructing mobile towers in the state, threatening employees of Jio and burning fiber cables. It is tragic because had the Punjab chief minister acted decisively and sooner, instead of showing leniency and allowing agitators to devel
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh (Pradeep Gaur/Mint via Getty Images)
Agitating protesters from Punjab and their supporters have cut off the power supply to around 1,300 mobile towers of telecom carrier Reliance Jio in Punjab, disrupting the mobile and internet services and causing inconvenience to the users who depend on the company s network and infrastructure,
Financial Express.
Reliance Jio operates around 9,000 towers in Punjab, of which around 1,300 have been cut off. It should be noted that in case of some towers, the protesters have gone as far as to cut down the fibre itself.
While no legal action has yet been taken against the protesters by Punjab Police or Punjab Government, Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh has appealed to the protesters to exercise restraint and to not cause inconvenience to the general public.
In Jalandhar, some bundles of Jio s fibre cable were also burnt.
Jio has 9,000 plus towers in the state.
Another source said the most common way of damaging the telecom towers was to cut off the power supply.
In at least one case, the generator at a tower site was physically taken away and allegedly donated to a local gurudwara.
Videos of Jio employees being threatened and made to flee have gone viral.
The attacks have impacted telecom services and operators are struggling to maintain services in absence of action by law enforcement agencies, the source said.
The Punjab chief minister had on Friday appealed to protesting farmers to not cause inconvenience to the general public with such actions and continue to exercise the same restraint as they had shown over the past several months of their agitation.
Authorities in Punjab are investigating whether protesting farmers were disrupting power supply to hundreds of telecom towers, a state official said on Monday, amid protests over new farm laws. We have told the police to track all those involved in sabotaging the infrastructure, a senior official in the Punjab state government told Reuters on condition of anonymity. A senior Punjab state police official said the power supply was disrupted to several telecom towers in the state, mainly ones owned by Jio, the telecommunications arm of Reliance Industries. A source close to Jio said more than 1,400 of its 9,000 plus towers were affected as power supplies and fibre to the towers were cut but could not confirm whether farmers were behind the damage.