Villagers compelled to climb hills searching for mobile signal

By Our Correspondent,Rukum West, Aug. 13: People are facing immense difficulties due to the problem at the Nepal Telecom tower located at Jumlepakhar in the border area of Sani Bheri Rural Municipality, Ward Nos. 5 and 6 in Rukum West. Locals complained about having to climb higher hills to get phone and internet services because of the network issues.

According to local resident Ajay Basnet, "The tower has been facing problems since April. Since July, the issues have worsened, causing the network to stop functioning altogether, he informed."

Basnet complained that ''Although they reported the problem to district and provincial offices, no serious attention has been given to solve the problem."

Chairperson of Ward No. 5 Motiram Khatri said, "The residents of Sani Bheri Rural Municipality Ward Nos. 5 and 6, as well as Banfikot Rural Municipality Ward No. 8, are troubled due to the issue at the tower." He said that the network barely works in the morning and evening, and even when the network is visible, clear phone conversations are not possible. Now people are forced to climb high hills searching for a signal." This has caused disruptions in mobile phone and internet-based work.

Regarding this issue, Krishna Sharma, head of Nepal Telecom office in Rukum West, said that although some problems arise occasionally after the start of the rainy season, the service has not been completely interrupted.

 Since there is no electricity line at that location, a solar panel has been installed. When the solar panel does not charge, the power supply becomes insufficient, which could be the reason for occasional network problems, he explained.

The Nepal Telecom tower at Duli is connected by radio link to the Arma tower. Telecom officials have said that sometimes the system's power supply is insufficient, which causes the network to go down.

They mentioned that the issue would be resolved once the electricity line is extended. However, locals have demanded that the problem be solved immediately.