While mobile phone services were restored in Kashmir on Saturday after remaining suspended for three days in the wake of the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Riyaz Naikoo on Wednesday, internet services on mobile phones continue to remain suspended.
The mobile phone services were restored across the valley on Friday night, officials said, adding the decision was taken in view of the improving situation.
However, they said the decision to restore the mobile internet services would be taken at an appropriate time after assessing the situation.
Due to the communication shutdown amid COVID-19 pandemic, people in Kashmir, especially those quarantined, are facing tough times as they have lost connection with their relatives.
People living outside the Valley highlighted problems they were facing after authorities suspended mobile and 2G internet services on Wednesday leaving only government-owned BSNL and Broadband functional with a limited network.
In a major success, security forces on Wednesday killed Naikoo besides three other militants in two separate encounters in Pulwama.
Amid coronavirus, the cardiac emergencies which were being handled in peripheries are now landing up in Srinagar as the internet blockade has put cardiologists’ Save Heart Initiative offline, local media reported. Helplines in the hospitals have also fallen silent with mobile networks down.
The student community is also bearing the brunt of the communication shutdown as they are not able to attend online classes. “The situation is unbearable for the students as we are losing our crucial time. All the educational android apps are not loading leaving us frustrated,” said Irtiqa Wani, a 10th class student.
Communication shutdown has also hit hundreds of NGOs across the Valley who have played an important role during the lockdown owing to COVID-19 distributing thousands of food kits to needy, protective facemasks, and PPE kits among medical teams.
At a time when Information Technology is being used as a major tool to fight COVID-19, the suspension of mobile and 2G internet is a major setback for contact tracing, sources said.
Suspension of 2G internet service makes the contact tracing apps such as “Aarogya Setu” and “Talaash” of no use as it is mainly based on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, they said.