Srinagar: Telecom services in Jammu and Kashmir remained down for a second consecutive day on Wednesday, compounding the hardships of residents grappling with severe flood-like conditions caused by heavy rainfall since Sunday.
Acknowledging the severity of the situation, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said he too was struggling with limited connectivity.
“Still struggling with almost non-existent communication. There is a trickle of data flowing on Jio mobile but no fixed-line WiFi, no browsing, almost no apps, things like X open frustratingly slowly, WhatsApp struggles with anything more than short text messages. Haven’t felt this disconnected since the terrible days of 2014 and 2019,” he posted on X.
Abdullah had lost power during the 2014 Assembly elections and was placed under the Public Safety Act for several months following the abrogation of Article 370, which revoked the special status of the erstwhile state in August 2019.
The region experienced widespread network outages on Tuesday after heavy rains damaged optical fibres at multiple locations, particularly affecting the Jammu area. The communication breakdown hindered emergency responses and caused panic among residents. Telecom operators have deployed technical teams to restore services as quickly as possible.
In a late-night development on Tuesday, the Centre directed all telecom service providers to immediately activate the intra-circle roaming (ICR) facility in J&K until September 2. The order was addressed to the heads of Bharti Airtel, BSNL, Reliance-Jio, and Vodafone-Idea.
“In view of the prevailing situation due to heavy rainfall and multiple landslides in Jammu and Kashmir, and in accordance with Clause 29.6 of the unified licence and the SOP 2020 provisions for disaster response, all telecom service providers are instructed to activate the intra-circle roaming facility for the J-K Union Territory with immediate effect until 23:59 hours of September 2, or until further instructions, whichever is earlier,” the Department of Telecommunications’ disaster management unit stated.
The order emphasized that ICR services should continue for all in-roamers in J&K and be treated as a top priority.
With low-lying areas waterlogged and mobile networks down for the second day, residents reported growing difficulties in contacting emergency services, reaching family members, and obtaining timely updates on the unfolding situation.
