VP Singh Badnore, Governor, Punjab

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 30

Perturbed over the rising incidents of sabotaging telecom towers in Punjab, The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has written a letter to Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and sought his intervention. Nearly 1,500 telecom towers in the state were damaged during the ongoing protest.

Take steps: Guv

Taking a serious note of vandalism of communication infrastructure, Governor VP Singh Badnore has said the state government should take immediate action to prevent such incidents from recurring

In the letter, Vineet Agarwal, president, Assocham, stated that such incidents (damage to telecom towers) not only resulted in a huge national loss, but also severely dented the image of a progressive state.

The continuation of the agitation, especially with incidents of damage to the industrial and other infrastructure, would turn investors away from the state.

“We urge you to step up the efforts to ensure that such incidents do not take place,” the letter further stated.

Earlier, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) also condemned disruption of telecom services as a form of protest. “While we respect people’s right to protest on any issue, sabotaging the telecom network infrastructure and disrupting services is strongly condemned,” said SP Kochhar, DG, COAI.

On Monday, the Chief Minister had directed the police to take action against vandalism of mobile towers and disruption of telecom services in the state during the farmers’ stir.