Punjab CM's Appeal Fails to Stop Damages to Telecom Towers; 150 More Damaged

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s appeal to protesting farmers to not damage telecom infrastructure seems to have failed to deter new attacks, with more than 150 signal transmitting sites being vandalised overnight, sources said on Sunday. “Pointing out that telecom connectivity had become even more critical for people amid the Covid pandemic, the chief minister urged the farmers to show the same discipline and sense of responsibility which they had been exercising during their protest at the Delhi border, which has completed one month, and also earlier during their agitation in the state,” a statement issued by the chief minister’s office had said. “Forceful disruption of telecom services due to snapping of power supply to mobile towers by farmers in several parts of the state was not only adversely affecting the studies and future prospects of students, who are dependent entirely on online education, but also hampering the daily life of people working from home due to the pandemic,” the statement had quoted the chief minister as saying. The chief minister’s appeal came in the wake of a request from the Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association, a registered body of telecom infrastructure providers, asking the state government to persuade the farmers to not resort to any unlawful activity in their fight for justice.