More than 1,500 telecom towers in Punjab have been damaged by farmers protesting against the three farm laws, disrupting services in some pockets, sources said.
Power supply to towers that relay telecom signals was snapped and cables cut in several parts of the state as farmers vented their anger on the infrastructure owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s firm Jio as they saw him along with infrastructure tycoon Gautam Adani as major beneficiaries of the new laws.
Neither Ambani’s Reliance group nor Adani’s companies are into the business of procuring foodgrains from farmers.
“Till yesterday, 1,411 towers were damaged and today the count has gone well past 1,500,” a source with knowledge of the matter told news agency PTI.
In Jalandhar, some bundles of fibre cable of Jio, which has 9,000 plus towers in the state, were also burnt.
The most common way of damaging the telecom towers, as per a source, was to cut off the power supply.
And in at least one case, the generator at a tower site was physically taken away and allegedly donated to a local gurudwara.
Pointing out that telecom connectivity had become even more critical for people amid the coronavirus pandemic, CM Amarinder Singh urged the protesting farmers to show the same discipline and sense of responsibility that they had been exercising during their protest at the Delhi border.
Sources said state police have so far not acted against those damaging telecom towers and even FIRs have not been registered in most cases.
According to the Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA), a registered body of telecom infrastructure providers, at least 1,600 towers have been vandalised.
These include common access infrastructure as well.
