Sans mobile connectivity, the Mughal Road between Chandimarh in Poonch and Heerpora in Shopian, has become a “death trap”, as the information about any untoward incident is received late, commuters claimed.
They said, “Due to the absence of mobile telecommunication, the vital road, which is prone to accidents and inclement weather, becomes a death trap. As the information is received late, the response is slower.” Suneet K Sharma from Rajouri said, “I travel via the Mughal Road whenever I have to go to Kashmir as the road shortens my trip and also saves time, as compared to the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. However, due to the absence of mobile communication, my family remains constantly worried. Besides, it also makes the road a death trap.”
He said, “Last year, I was on way to Kashmir from Rajouri when my vehicle developed a technical snag near Chatta Pani bridge. As both my mobile phones had no network, I had to stand in the middle of the road for several hours before a passerby helped me. In other areas, I could have called a mechanic and my problem would have been sorted within no time.”
Mohammad Umar, a resident of Surankote, said, “Mughal Road is prone to accidents and the rescue operations are always delayed. It is not the fault of the concerned department as they receive information late. This delay can prove to be fatal in case of accidents.” Several other locals, including Mohammad Iftikar, Rishiv Sharma and Javed Mohammad, also shared the concern. They said, “The installation of a couple of temporary mobile towers on the road, especially between Doogran to Heerpora, is the immediate need of the hour. Authorities should take a decision on it at an earliest.”
Meanwhile, the Poonch district administration, led by District Development Commissioner, Rahul Yadav, convened a meeting with the telecom operators two days ago, wherein the issue of mobile connectivity was also discussed.
In the meeting, the DDC told the telecom operators that Mughal Road continues to remain not connected in terms of mobile connectivity and the reporting of any untoward incident gets delayed, which proves to be detrimental.
