Mobile towers to help fight naxalism in Maharashtra

To tackle left-wing extremism (LWE) through better communication and ensure that the morale of the security forces is high, the state government is planning to cover remote areas in Gadchiroli with mobile connectivity. In a review meeting of LWE-affected states in New Delhi on Monday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had pointed out the need for better connectivity to fight Naxalism. Sources said while they had installed 37 mobile towers in the LWE-affected areas of Gadchiroli and Gondia in the first phase which was launched in December 2014, work on five more will be completed by month-end.

Officials said apart from the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited's (BSNL) usual capacity addition plans, they will install 40 more towers for connectivity in LWE-affected areas in the second phase.

Abhinav Deshmukh, superintendent of police (SP), Gadchiroli, told DNA this would help security forces overcome communication hurdles and receive and pass on information seamlessly.

"It will help CRPF and police personnel stay in touch with their families," he explained, adding that these towers will be set up in Naxalism-affected areas of Gadchiroli and parts of Gondia like Deori and Salekasa. "We will try to overcome problems faced in the first phase and ensure greater bandwidth as otherwise, it leads to lower capacity, range and radius," said Deshmukh.

A BSNL official said the second phase, work on which will be launched soon, was expected to be completed by March 2018. "These phase-I towers are connected on VSAT which leads to low bandwidth. We will upgrade most of these towers on microwave (11) and OFC (five) and the capacity of 10 towers will be upgraded from the existing 512 Kbps to 1 Mbps," he added, stating that these operated on EDGE technology. The official explained that however, microwave and OFC technologies had limitations in areas with unclear line of sight and where digging for laying fibre was tough. "These towers are meant for security agencies but also help local villagers," he said, adding that they would provide connectivity for some of the phase-II towers using OFC and microwave.

These towers to be installed in the second phase will be effective in a 5-km radius and provide data services of up to 2 Mbps speed. In addition, BSNL will install 66 towers with 3G services by March 2018 in areas with 2G connectivity and set up 49 new 2G towers, he added.

...& ANALYSIS

• The project will help the police and security forces communicate better within themselves and with informers. It will also help them stay in touch with their families.
   
• BSNL has a total of 184 mobile towers in Gadchiroli, up from 78 on January 1, 2014.
   
• It plans to install towers near security camps in LWE-affected areas like Dhanora, Charmoshi, Bhamragad, Etapalli and Korchi (Gadchiroli) and Salekasa, Duggipur, Chichgad and Arjuni Morgaon (Gondia). They operate on solar energy with eight day battery backup