SANGUEM: Poor internet connectivity in remote villages is nothing new, but the students residing in the wards of Kumbhari, Dongor, Villian and Potrem are forced to travel to dangerous hilly areas to get connectivity.
Some students from the Bhati village are compelled to travel a distance of around four kilometres on daily basis and that too in the jungle areas on hilltops to get the internet connectivity which is interspersed with frequent disconnections.
Bhati sarpanch Uday Naik confirmed of the precarious situations the students have to face in the village. With the lone service provider enjoying the monopoly and being the sole company in the village, frequent requests to the authorities to improve the internet connectivity in the village have miserably failed, Naik claimed.
While some areas get connectivity from the tower located in the village, most wards located in the hinterland fail to get net connectivity on regular basis, he said.
Amit Naik, a social worker from Netravali, who has been spearheading the issue of internet connectivity in the remote villages since last few months, informed that it is a pity that the service provider has failed to improve the situation in the remote villages despite having its towers in the locality.
Naik complained of the negligent attitude of the Junior Telecom Officer entrusted with the job of looking after the towers located at Bhati, Rivona and Netravali. Despite being informed of the problems encountered by the students and the businessmen, the JTO has failed to improve the situation in the villages which come under his jurisdiction.
The students from Kumbhari are forced to walk around five kilometres in the jungle areas risking their lives and have to spend almost a day attending the classes. The situation is made all the more worse for girls who have to sit atop the hill in the remote areas to attend online classes.
At times when the classes are held in the afternoon hours, the students have to walk to the hilly areas with the lunch boxes, Naik informed.
The hilly areas which are frequented by the student community from Bhati are located in Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary which is a home for many wild animals. Naik questioned the government authorities as to who shall be held responsible if any untoward incident takes place while the students attend the online classes in the hilly areas.
Students from Kumbhari ward in Bhati informed that they had brought the issue of internet connectivity in the village to the notice of the local political leaders but to no avail. “Even after walking a distance of around five kilometres we fail to get proper internet connectivity,” students complained.
Naik informed that even in Bhati where internet is available with poor frequency, the internet gets disconnected each time there is a power failure as the towers lack proper backup.
In the neighbouring Rivona, the authorities have failed to provide connection to a generator, which was procured some three months ago. The generator continues to remain unattended in the vicinity of the tower, Amit Naik claimed.
