Launched with much fanfare few weeks ago, the JK Covid-19 online dashboard— a database on the outbreak of pandemic in J&K— has gone defunct due to the internet shutdown.
The dashboard available on the website of department ofEcology, Environment and Remote Sensing, has been showing outdated data due tothe suspension of internet services since Wednesday in Kashmir. Since May 5 nofresh updates have been made on the portal.
An official looking after the dashboard said the teamresponsible for updating the portal did not have the internet access. “Sincethe employees are doing work from home due to the situation owing to covid-19,most of them do not have broadband facilities available,” he said. The officialsaid that earlier when the internet was available, the portal was updated asper the daily media bulletin issued by the government on covid19.
However, he said, the last five days had seen no activity onthe dashboard. “The portal was provingto be quite informative for the general public with the covid-19 related datapresented in the form of charts, log tables, etc.” the official said.
“In case the internet is not restored in next one or twodays, we are mulling to provide broadband facility to the persons concerned toenable them to update the portal,” the official said.
The 2G internet suspension has also hit the door-to-doorhealth audit being conducted by the government across Jammu and Kashmir.Officials said the ground level workers conducting the survey using a mobileapp “Swasthya Nidhi” to collect data will be unable to do so in absence ofinternet service.
“The internet is also vital to fight covid-19 as thegovernment-run mobile apps for contact tracing such as ‘Aarogya Setu’ and’Talaash’ are defunct without internet,” officials said.
“The apps need an active internet connection to keep trackof the app users and those who come in contact with. It alerts the user in caseof a covid19 patient or someone with a contact history near them. The centralgovernment has recently made the ‘Aarogya Setu’ app compulsory for bothgovernment and private employees,” they said. Suspension of 2G internet service by the authorities across Kashmirsince Wednesday has left people fuming for whom it was the only mode ofcommunication and information amid the coronavirus lockdown.
Several internet and telecom subscribers told GreaterKashmir that suspension of data services on mobile phones was a “majorhandicap” during the outbreak of covid-19. “It is quite unfortunate that internet has been snapped at a time wheninformation regarding the pandemic is quite necessary,” said Zahid Ahmad.