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 adeath trap. As the information is received late, the response is slower.”
Suneet K Sharma from Rajouri said, “I travel via the MughalRoad whenever I have to go to Kashmir as the road shortens my trip and also savestime, as compared to the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. However, due to theabsence 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 fromRajouri when my vehicle developed a technical snag near Chatta Pani bridge. Asboth my mobile phones had no network, I had to stand in the middle of the roadfor several hours before a passerby helped me. In other areas, I could havecalled a mechanic and my problem would have been sorted within no time.”
Mohammad Umar, a resident of Surankote, said, “Mughal Roadis prone to accidents and the rescue operations are always delayed. It is notthe fault of the concerned department as they receive information late. Thisdelay can prove to be fatal in case of accidents.”
Several other locals, including Mohammad Iftikar, RishivSharma and Javed Mohammad, also shared the concern. They said, “Theinstallation of a couple of temporary mobile towers on the road, especially betweenDoogran to Heerpora, is the immediate need of the hour. Authorities should takea decision on it at an earliest.”
Meanwhile, the Poonch district administration, led byDistrict Development Commissioner, Rahul Yadav, convened a meeting with thetelecom operators two days ago, wherein the issue of mobile connectivity wasalso discussed.
In the meeting, the DDC told the telecom operators thatMughal Road continues to remain not connected in terms of mobile connectivityand the reporting of any untoward incident gets delayed, which proves to bedetrimental.