• 10 sites severely damaged due to the fire
• 100 + connected sites critically impacted
Naguar, 23 June 2018: Between 20 June to 22 June 2018, four techniciansare suspected of setting fire to two telecom tower sites — GurahBagwan Das and Rai Dhenu in the Naguar district, Rajasthan. This incident has not only led to the disruption of essential services but has also sabotaged 10 sites creating interruption in network of Airtel, Idea, Vodafone and Jio.
The names and details of the suspected are – Arvind Singh S/O Shree Sukharam, post Khyaspura Tehsil Pepadsiti, Zila Jodhpur, Pradeep Bhambu S/O Bhawar Ram Post Kalwi Tehsil JayalZilaNagaur, Prahlad Kumar S/O Hukmaram, Village Manglod, Tehsil Jayal, ZilaNagaur and Kamal Joshi S/O Om Prakash Joshi, Village Khiyala, Tehsil Jayal as per the FIR that was lodged in the police stations,Sadar – Raidhanu, Pachodi – Guda, Sri Balaji, Surpalia, Gotan, Kuchera, Chitawa, Jayal, Badikhatu and Peelwaby the security in charge of the telecom towers that were damaged.
This episode further caused disruption offunctioning of telecom network for the entire area of Kheenvsar and Naguar tehsils thereby impacting 100+ connected sites in the region.All the suspectedtechnicians are also responsible for causing damages like intentionally shutting off the sites and cutting cables. The mishap by the suspectscreated a lot of inconvenience to the people of the area affecting their wellbeing and security. No strict action for their offences have been undertaken so far after the FIR was lodged against these four technicians.After further police investigation, it was discovered that the tower company used to supply a significant amount of diesel which was used further by the technicians for unethical black marketing of diesel and now that the supply has been stopped, the reaction is aggravated in this form of violent and illegal anti-social activity which is very unfortunate.
In Rajasthan and other regions of India, it has been discoveredin the past as well that technicians willingly cause damage to the towers for their unethical vested interests. One of the main motives for such damages is when tower companies refuse to give diesel resulting in agitation amongst the tower technicians. The unrest is also caused when tower companies take diligent steps to assure the smooth functioning of business by monitoring the diesel consumption by the towers, proactively fostering efficiency and maintaining field discipline.
The telecommunications industry functions as the backbone of the country with India currently being the world’s second largest telecommunications market with a subscriber base of 1.20 billion. The Indian mobile economy is going through a drastic change and will substantially contribute to India’s GDP (Gross domestic Product), according to report prepared by GSMA (GSM Association) in association with BCG (Boston Consulting Group).Towers are the foundation of the telecom industry enabling connectivity to both voice and data to the end consumers and play a pivotal role towards contributing to India’s growth and prosperity.
Sandeep Sharma
