Mobile towers in Haryana damaged due to 5G rumours

Rohtak: Upset over the damage to telecommunication towers in rural areas, the Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (Taipa) has sought the intervention of state chief secretary in addressing the issue of fake news of connection between 5G and Covid-19.
Rahul Dhall, senior manager from Taipa told TOI that four of their towers were damaged in the last 10 days, especially in Rohtak and Jind areas, and there has been threat to 15-20 towers operating in rural areas. In a letter to chief secretary Vijay Vardhan on Thursday, Dhall said various fake and misleading messages, and recorded audios/ videos are being circulated on social media linking the spread of the Covid with telecom networks and 5G network testing.
It is resulting in protests by the public against the installation of telecom towers.
“The impact of this misleading campaign has led the telecom infrastructure providers to face huge issues in the operation and maintenance of existing telecom towers and installation of new telecom towers due to the increasing resistance from the miscreant elements,” he said.
T R Dua, director general of Taipa, said, “Such incidents if not brought under control may significantly impact the telecom connectivity at large and deprive the general public/government bodies from getting uninterrupted telecom services at crucial junction of Covid-19 when telecom and internet connectivity are essential for enabling work from home, virtual meetings, e-commerce, e-education, e-health and various other initiatives of the government including the vaccination which requires technology and connectivity support for various purposes.”
The letter reads that to counter these fake and misleading messages, the department of telecommunications (DoT) have already clarified that there is no link between 5G technology and spread of Covid-19.