Farmer Protesters In Punjab Cut off Power Supply To Reliance Jio's 1,300 Telecom Towers

Agitating protesters from Punjab and their supporters have cut off the power supply to around 1,300 mobile towers of telecom carrier Reliance Jio in Punjab, disrupting the mobile and internet services and causing inconvenience to the users who depend on the company's network and infrastructure, reports Financial Express.

Reliance Jio operates around 9,000 towers in Punjab, of which around 1,300 have been cut off. It should be noted that in case of some towers, the protesters have gone as far as to cut down the fibre itself.

While no legal action has yet been taken against the protesters by Punjab Police or Punjab Government, Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh has appealed to the protesters to exercise restraint and to not cause inconvenience to the general public.

Singh had said, "Forceful disruption of telecom services due to snapping of power supply to mobile towers by farmers in several parts of the state is 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."

Singh had also added, "Further, the disruption of telecom services would also seriously affect the state’s already disturbed economy."

Singh's appeal to the protesters came after the Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) asked the State Government to jump in and persuade the protesters to not to resort to any unlawful activity.