Vizag: Cell towers to counter Naxals

Visakhapatnam: State-run telecom operator BSNL will expand its network in Maoist-hit districts in AP by installing 53 mobile towers in the coming years. This will help effective policing and also help the administration respond to emergency situations.

Security personnel had emphasised that communication is the major problem in Agency areas of Vizianagaram, Vizag, East and West Godavari districts, where the Red rebels have been trying to regroup over the proposed bauxite mining issue and the Polavaram Project.

To counter Maoist activities in AP, the Centre has planned to install the mobile towers to improve telecom connectivity in the Left Wing Extremism areas.
Sources said that private telecom operators were not willing to to do so in LWE areas fearing damage by the Red rebels.  

Sources said that the Centre has sanctioned 12 mobile towers in Vizag, 26 in Vizianagaram, 10 in East Godavari and five mobile towers in West Godavari districts. Of the 53 sites, work for the setting up mobile towers has commenced at 51 places and towers gone on air at 30.

Initially, the Centre planned to set up BSNL towers at Jerrila (GK Veedhi mandal) and Maddigaruvu (G Madugula mandal) in Vizag Agency, but now it was decided to relocate the towers to Rudakota (Pedabayalu) and Rallagedda (Chintapalle) in Vizag Agency due to the security reasons.

The MHA’s 2015-16 annual report says that Maoist violence in AP had shot up by 94 per cent in 2015-16 compared to previous year as a result of the proposed bauxite mining and few other issues.

Intelligence sources said that the CPI (Maoist) has been extending direct support to locals against the mining in Vizag Agency and construction of Polavaram project in West Godavari district.

Police forces are worried that the outlawed Maoists are slowly regaining ground over Polavaram project and bauxite mining issue in the state.  

A senior police officer, on condition of anonymity, said that not only police but also people in the LWE areas in the state will benefit with improved mobile connectivity. Communication will bring changes in lifestyle of locals in the LWE areas in the coming years, he said.

Info Graphics:

Government of India has sanctioned 12 mobile towers in Vizag while it was 26 in Vizianagaram, 10 in East Godavari and 5 mobile towers in West Godavari.

Maoist violence activities decreased in all the states, except Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The Maoists have been involved in a total of 35 violence incidents and killed eight persons in the state in 2015. A majority of these incidents were reported from Vizag Agency