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Our Correspondent
Kohima, July 8 (EMN): Reliance Jio users in several parts of Kohima have been experiencing poor signal strength for several days now as landowners reportedly switched off the cell towers fearing emission of (harmful) radiation.
Sources from the telecom service provider told Eastern Mirror that they were facing issues with landowners, particularly in Kohima.
In some sites (cell tower), the landowners reportedly shut down the tower after hearing “rumours” that cell towers might harm their health.
Another source explained that the link (of cell towers) is interconnected, so if one tower is down, the other tower (linked to that particular tower) goes down as well and gets affected.
Two sites (of cell tower) in Kohima have been affected due to landowner issues, it was informed.
‘Because of that, the other sites were impacted, which in turn had affected the entire Kohima city. When one or more sites are down, the load becomes more in other sites, which affects the speed,’ the source said.
‘Four sites have already been restored as the landlords had agreed to resume operation. But, two sites are still in the process of restoration and are expected to be done by Friday,’ added the source.
However, people in parts of Kohima had to experience erratic phone network due to the issue.
A resident of New Minister’s Hill colony told this newspaper that some families, including his neighbour faced huge difficulties. Students, who depend on internet for online classes, were at their wit’s end.
A delivery person said that he had to return his package undelivered, as he could not reach the buyer's phone number in the same locality.
Another resident at Upper Lerie colony complained that she could not work from home with her new Jio SIM, which she had bought recently in the hope of solving network issue.
Meanwhile, civil society organisations like Naga Students’ Federation and Ao Kaketshir Mungdang (AKM) had requested telecom service providers in the state to improve internet speed as students, who have been taking online classes since the lockdown began, are affected by poor network.
According to American Cancer Society, “there’s no strong evidence that exposure to Radio-frequency (RF) waves from cell phone towers causes any noticeable health effects”.