Power cuts & network connectivity
It’s been a week since power outages vanished from our lives, and citizens still fume over what they were made to endure. One annoying aspect about lockdowns, for which there isn’t an iota of onus on our government, is the network coverage — as and when power is cut, the signal bars on our cell phones simply drop or disappear. The SJ team enquired from a cross section of users and found that the situation identical everywhere: no power, no network connectivity.
Everyone is questioning why the power cuts should coincide with poor connectivity or no network at all.
The answer is simple. Network providers don’t invest in generators or other power banks. Students doing online classes have suffered the most.
One spot where people experience this spectacle is West Shillong. The big guns among telephone companies are the worst. “During night hours, the connectivity remains alight for at least 15 minutes from the time the power is cut. Then from 4G my phone goes to 2G. Then after two more minutes of 2G there’s just nothing,” a resident said.
The question is why no one is holding the network providers to account. They are accountable to the public that pays for services. Why don’t these companies shed some light on this and tell people what they are really up to?
A vigilant Holi
The stage is set for Shillongites to spray colours on one another, dance, party, and enjoy various delicacies as the 2021 edition of Holi, the festival of colours, arrives.
Many were seen donning the colours on their faces a day prior to the Rangwali Holi or Dhulendi.
A great way of making the most out of Holi, while ensuring that we and our loved ones are safe from COVID, is to celebrate it at home with family.
This year’s celebration calls for utmost care as COVID-19 cases have seen an abnormal spike in recent weeks in several states although Meghalaya is recording low numbers and is therefore relatively well placed. But attention Shillongites, COVID-19 is far from over.
Masks are back
Over the course of this week a small change has been noticed among residents of Shillong. More people have gone back to wearing masks but that does not mean that there are no deviants around.
Masks had more or less become redundant in the city despite recurrent appeals by Health officials. But with a spike in COVID-19 cases in some states and with growing fears of a second wave of the pandemic, officials have launched a drive to make masks mandatory again.
Incidentally, people aren’t wearing masks again due to a fear of infection, but the cause seems to be something else — the Rs 500 fine to be precise.
Officials recently launched a surprise check at Khyndai Lad and caught many people with their masks down, some without any. They were swiftly fined Rs 500. Word got around and by the end of the day people were reported to be wearing masks in most localities of the city.
Hope the surprise checks and imposition of fines continue in the days to come for our own good.