Srinagar: Mobile internet, broadband, and calling facilities remained badly hit across Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday as heavy rainfall and landslides damaged optical fibre networks at multiple locations, leaving residents disconnected.
Officials said that the breakdown has impacted all major service providers, including state-owned BSNL, with even landline services going offline. “Calls are not going through, and mobile internet has ceased functioning across all networks due to multiple fibre cuts at different places,” they added. Technical teams have been rushed to identify and resolve the issues.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah voiced concern over the widespread outage, terming it reminiscent of the communication blackouts of 2014 floods and the post-August 2019 clampdown.
“Still struggling with almost nonexistent communication. There is a trickle of data flowing on Jio mobile, but no fixed line WiFi, no browsing, almost no apps, things like X open frustratingly slowly, and WhatsApp struggles with anything more than short text messages. Haven’t felt this disconnected since the terrible days of 2014 & 2019,” Omar posted on X.
The Ministry of Communications on Tuesday directed telecom operators to activate Intra Circle Roaming (ICR) across J&K to mitigate the disruption. The order, valid till September 2, will allow subscribers to connect to any available network in the UT until restoration.
The prolonged outage comes at a time when incessant rains have wreaked havoc across J&K. In Jammu, three days of relentless downpour have led to floods, landslides, and suspension of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage after a landslide injured six devotees.
On Tuesday, CM Abdullah chaired an emergency meeting, calling the situation in several parts of Jammu “quite serious.” He said additional funds had been placed at the disposal of Deputy Commissioners for emergency restoration works. “Relief and restoration will proceed as per SDRF norms. Wherever requirements go beyond, I will personally ensure provisions are made,” he assured.
