Gavi’s wait for mobile coverage finally ends

A tourist searching for mobile network connectivity en route to the Gavi village. The BSNL has kickstarted the construction of a cell phone tower that will offer connectivity within a 5-km radius of the village.
| Photo Credit: LEJU KAMAL

It’s a moment of joy for the residents of Gavi, as the village, nestled deep inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Pathanamthitta, is finally set to receive mobile network coverage.

According to officials, the BSNL has already launched the construction of a cell phone tower inside the village, which is slated to become operational later next month. The 40-m-long tower, being set up using the universal service obligation fund of the union government for bridging the digital divide, is coming up on 0.012 hectare of forest land. The user agency of the land is the divisional engineer of BSNL, Pathanamthitta.

Gavi, a village in ward three of the Seethathodu panchayat, is currently inhabited by some 350 families and a bulk of them are descendants of Sri Lankan Tamil repatriates who were rehabilitated here in the 1970s.

According to Anto Antony, who represents the Pathanamthitta Parliament constituency, the tower will offer network coverage within a five-kilometer radius of Gavi, which also includes the Ponnambalamedu region. Starting with 2G and 3G services, it will upgrade to 4G services within six months of operation.

“The project is being initiated after raising the issue of zero connectivity in Gavi before the telephone advisory committee on several occasions’’, he said.

But for a couple of daily services run by the KSRTC, Gavi remains virtually disconnected from the outside world with no mobile network coverage. The problem was more profound during the lockdown months when classes were moved online.

“School education of most children suffered as they could not attend online classes while obtaining urgent medical assistance was also not possible because of a network connectivity problem’’, noted a forest official.

The absence of a proper telecommunication network at Gavi also posed hurdles to the KSEB, police and Kerala Forest Development Corporation officials posted on duty here. The village, a favoured destination of travellers, is also receiving a huge number of visitors on a daily basis throughout the year