SIKKIM: SAT link plan for Sikkim

Gangtok, April 27: The BSNL is working on a two-pronged strategy that includes a satellite system to beef up the communication network in North Sikkim, a strategic area bordering China and a melting pot for tourism.

Currently, North Sikkim, a remote and under-developed district among the four in the Himalayan state, is linked through the overhead optical fibre cable. The two new mediums of communication that the telecom giant is going to add are — another optical fibre cable mounted on power transmission lines and a satellite system, said the BSNL’s Sikkim circle general manager S.K. Mahto.

“The overhead cables are already in place and areas like Chungthang, Lachen and Lachung in North Sikkim are under our network,” Mahto said. Work for laying cables on power transmission lines between Gangtok and Mangan (69km away) is about to be completed.

“We have been working on estimates for extending these lines up to Chungthang (another 29km from Mangan) and work will start after the state power department finishes installing its towers out there,” Mahto told The Telegraph.

The BSNL is also considering setting up a satellite system at Chungthang whose network will cover areas like Lachung and Lachen, both tourism hotspots and gateway to Yumthang Valley and the Gurudongmar lake.

Chungthang, 98km from Gangtok, is the gateway to Lachen and Lachung. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the army manning the Indo-China border in North Sikkim also have their bases in Chungthang.

Mahto said the chief secretary of Sikkim would meet officials of the telecom department in New Delhi next week to discuss the installation of the satellite system at Chungthang. “Once the proposal is approved and bandwidth and equipment provided to us, the satellite system will be installed in six months,” he added.

Recently, tourism stakeholders from Lachung had complained of erratic BSNL services, which they said, were hampering summer tourism.

“Thanks to poor services, we cannot know beforehand how many tourists are coming and make accommodations for them. Sometimes the highway is blocked because of landslides and tourists and the local people can’t even inform the authorities,” said a hotel owner in Lachung .

Lachung has around 90 hotels and home-stay facilities with many more coming up. On an average, 250 vehicles full of tourists visit Lachung every day during the three months peak summer season (middle of March to June).

Frequently services are affected because the cables at Phodong between Gangtok and Mangan get snapped. But they are promptly restored, claimed Mahto.

He added that such disruptions take place because of road widening work on the North Sikkim Highway by the Border Roads Organisation. “So, we are working on putting a second line along the power cables and once the widening work is completed, we will put the earlier lines underground,” he said.

President of the Travel Agents’ Association of Sikkim Paljor Lachungpa stressed the need for a stable medium of communication in North Sikkim for the convenience of tourists and the local people. “It will benefit everybody, the tourists, operators and the local people,” he said.

source; the telegraph