Be always within reach, government tells telecom firms

Chaired by Revenue Minister R B Udayakumar, the Revenue department has prepared a list of do’s and don’ts for the telecom service providers, which includes keeping the emergency power generators above the ground level so that they don’t get inundated and cause disruption in service. Several floodhit Chennaiites remained cut off and struggled to call for help after communication systems went haywire owing to heavy inundation last year. 

DTNext has reliably learnt that telecom service providers have also been advised to explore the possibility of using communication infrastructure in far-off places in the event of flooding making facilities here inoperable. Also, service providers have been advised to stock up adequate fuel to run generators to keep the communication working even during power failure. 

This apart, emergency preparedness of relief teams, district-level disaster management committees, stocking up of essential commodities at various levels and logistics were also discussed by the officials who got into a huddle close on the heels of weathermen predicting a minor delay in the onset of north-east monsoon.