Post Vardah: Erratic mobile, internet connectivity puts off Chennaiites
Chennai: Erratic mobile connectivity, shutting down of internet lines and draining of mobile battery due to disconnection of power supply added to the woes of Chennaiites on Tuesday as the metropolis tried to limp back to normalcy after the worst-ever cyclone in two decades.
The good old landlines, mostly of the state-owned BSNL, was the only mode of communication that was not affected by the fury of the cyclone Vardah that lashed the city packed with a wind speed of up to 150 kmph.
Even 24 hours after the cyclone made its landfall, mobile networks were erratic and data on them did not work for most part of the day. While major players like Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel and Tata Docomo ensured operations, though erratic, newcomer Reliance Jio and ACT broadband shut down completely from Monday evening. Efforts to reach the private players did not fructify, but the Tamil Nadu government said it has asked the mobile service providers to ensure proper connectivity by Wednesday.
BSNL mobile services worked for most part of the day, but internet connectivity in those phones were also down on Tuesday. Sources in the IT department said the mobile networks were erratic, as many of the private operators had lost their towers due to the effect of the cyclone and non-supply of electricity.
In all, 278 telephone exchanges of total 287 operated by BSNL was working as on Tuesday evening, while 700 of the total 2,800 mobile towers operated by the state-run firm was down due to discontinuation of power.
“We will ensure that every tower is up and running by Wednesday morning as power is being restored to several areas in Chennai. We are committed to ensuring proper connectivity to people,” a senior BSNL official said.
Information and technology minister Dr M. Manikandan said private players have been instructed to get their towers back on track in the next 24 hours and restore mobile and broadband connectivity by Wednesday.
“Required instructions have been given to all private players to ensure that people get mobile connectivity as soon as possible,” he said. A few towers had collapsed due to the effect of the winds that hit the Chennai coast as the Cyclone Vardah made its landfall near Chennai Harbour on Monday evening. As several trees in almost every locality in the metropolis were uprooted and telephone and broadband cables stuck between them, broadband internet connectivity was completely shutdown as power was yet to be restored to several localities.
“It looked like as if I was living in pre-mobile and pre-telephone era. I could just not get in touch with my relatives and my loved ones. They must have also been trying to contact me. For two full days, I was without mobile connectivity and my broadband stopped working after power went off,” Meenakshi Sundaram, a retired head master of a government high school who lives in Kodambakkam, said.
And the woes of people who went to office despite the cyclone and got stranded were indescribable. “I was stuck in my office on the OMR the whole day on Monday. The signal strength on my mobile was excellent but no calls went through. And only after I reached home with much difficulty late in the night, I could contact my parents in Tiruchy through my landline,” Naveen Kumar, software professional at Intellect whose office is located in Siruseri, said.
“Lack of electricity was the main problem. As our phones were out of charge, we couldn’t contact anyone. There was no water in our hostel and nearby shops were shut down. The damage was severe,” said Pearson, a postgraduate student of Madras University.
(With inputs from Kiran Narayanan)
