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By Milan Sharma: In a big boost for connectivity across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh, the government of India has installed 254 new 4G network towers and made them operational in 336 villages.
The move will provide much-needed Internet and broadband connectivity to at least 70,000 residents around villages near the LAC in the Indian territory. The move comes even as China continues to expand infrastructure near the frontier regions of LAC.
These villages, it is being said, remained unconnected ever since India’s independence. This is a boost for the Indian army and security forces in the region as well as the residents. The towers have been installed by Airtel, a private telecom operator. BSNL, the government telecom provider is also a part of the project to connect border villages near the LAC.
Speaking on this occasion, Telecom Minister Ashwani Vaishnav interacted with villagers in Bonga village in the lower Dibang valley district, which is connected all the way to New Delhi via the internet. This village has been connected for the first time.
“We can now video call our relatives, we can do banking also,” a beneficiary said.
At least 15 Bongo village households have received 4G Internet for the first time since independence.
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The government hopes for the re-population of such sparsely populated villages, which are often left by people due to migration to more connected and well-settled regions.
“We have a long road ahead of us. Finish remaining towers in a time-bound manner,” said Arunachal CM Pema Khandu.
Deputy CM Chowna Mein said, “Our Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), soldiers at the border, army, border security force (BSF), and services selection board (SSB) will also benefit from it, it is historic. We have come far from those days, when we would only depend on subscriber trunk dialling (STD) lines and pray to get connected.“
Zemithang village in Tawang is just a few kilometres from the LAC. The village, which has seen incursions from Chinese soldiers these past few months is now being connected via mobile towers.
“These are not the last villages of India – they are the first villages of the nation. Sparsely and less connected areas must compulsorily be given a mobile tower, this is our top priority,” said the deputy CM.
“Under the 4G saturation project, out of 2,424 sites for 4G services in North East, 270 sites will be connected through optical fibre, 1,237 through microwave and 917 sites will be connected through very small aperture terminal (VSAT),” said union law minister Kiren Rijiju at a press conference in Arunachal Pradesh’s Itanagar.
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“At least 1156 more towers need to be operationalised in near future,” said Pema Khandu. The target is to connect the entire state of Arunachal, which currently has over 4,000 mobile towers, by March 2024.
Kiren Rijiju also said that the target is that in the next 6–7 months, every border village in Arunachal Pradesh will be connected via 4G network.
“1156 locations have been surveyed. The locations of unconnected villages, which is to be connected, have been identified,” he said.
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“Arunachal’s Frontier highway approval will be the most difficult, but also the most historic roadway in the country, at a cost of 40,000 crore, which is more than the state budget,” said Kiren Rijiju.
Speaking to India Today, the union law minister said, “The work on the frontier highway began only after 2014 because it needs political willpower, which only the Modi government can bring. There was a time in 2004, when we used to keep talking about the project. But the government at that time, didn’t want to ever sanction the project, and all they wanted was to have mules and bullock carts, (khacchar and bael gaadi) for transport in the northeast.”
“But when Modi came to power in 2014, they agreed to launch this. They sanctioned Rs 40,000 crore for a project of this kind. Even the state’s budget is not as much as Rs 30,000 crore,” he added.
“The Frontier highway approval is going to be the most difficult but the most historic highway ever in the country. Surveys have started. Work is going to happen at high speed. We have also spoken to Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari. According to the prime minister’s vision for 2047, the border area will also have a great contribution,” said Kiren Rijiju.
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VIBRANT VILLAGES NEAR LAC
“All ministers have been told to go to border areas and live in the village, sleep in these villages, and implement schemes there via mission 500,” said Rijiju. “Sitting in Delhi and working on paper will never solve the problems of Arunachal Pradesh,” he said.
“Vibrant villages programme in border areas will benefit us immensely. First villages on the border and in northern borders need these schemes. The residents should get the benefit of having connectivity, not just through mobiles but also road networks,” said Karen Rijiju.
On being asked about repair works of non-functional mobile towers installed in the state, the union law minister said, “We need better infrastructure and transport network to take equipment and manpower to the remote location. It is not a one-sided problem but needs multiple stakeholders, like the state, the district commissioner, the telecom department, the transport department, and telecom providers to work together.”
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