Mangaluru: Measures taken by the govt to address the disruption caused by mobile signal jammers installed at the Mangaluru District Prison have failed to provide relief to businesses, educational institutions and other establishments in the surrounding areas, Mangaluru City South MLA Vedavyas Kamath said in the legislature on Tuesday.Kamath urged the state govt to set a deadline and resolve the issue, which has reportedly affected mobile connectivity in the area for around 18 months.“Despite repeated appeals to the authorities, protests and the issue being raised in the assembly, no concrete action has been taken. The public is being told that meetings have been held and steps will be taken, but nothing has been implemented,” Kamath said.He said that he had raised the matter with the then district and home ministers. Lawyers from the Mangaluru Bar Association have also approached the high court over the issue.Responding to Kamath’s query, home minister Priyank Kharge said meetings had been held with stakeholders, including Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL), telecom service providers and the department of telecommunications (DoT), regarding the issue.He said directions had been issued to ensure that the jammers block signals inside the prison without affecting the public outside. TCIL, telecom operators and the DoT have been conducting joint surveys to address the connectivity problems faced by residents and establishments in Mangaluru, he added.Centre asks prison authorities to reassess jammersThe Union ministry of communications has also taken note of the issue. In a communication sent to the DIG (prisons), Karnataka, in Nov last year, the DoT directed prison authorities to reassess the technical parameters of the jammers installed at the Mangaluru jail.The authorities were also asked to ensure that the equipment did not inconvenience the public outside the prison premises.Meanwhile, the proposed relocation of the jail from Mangaluru city to Bantwal taluk remains stalled due to a lack of funds. During his visit to Mangaluru in Aug last year, the then home minister G Parameshwara directed senior prison department officials to visit the city and explore solutions to the signal disruption caused by jammers.He also directed public works department officials to release Rs 80 crore for completing the new Mangaluru District Jail building in Bantwal taluk.Last year, The Mangaluru Bar Association has filed a public interest litigation in the high court, alleging that the jammers installed at the district jail are disrupting mobile connectivity within a radius of around 1.5km.
