Reasons behind disruption in mobile services in Karachi revealed

KARACHI: Long-hours of load shedding and heavy downpour have been termed as the two major reasons for the suspension of mobile services in parts of the province including Karachi, ARY NEWS reported on Saturday.

Many areas of the city are facing suspension or weak signals of mobile phones after the recent rain spell.

Industry sources having knowledge of the issue said that mobile networking remains disrupted in the city due to long hours of load shedding.

“The mobile towers are unable to get power for the last over 48-hours and their back-up systems have also failed,” they said adding that the generators installed at the towers have run dry.

The infrastructure at some of the mobile towers has also suffered damages in the last rain spell causing the disruptions, they said as citizens still face difficulties in contacting their loved ones even three days after the record rain spell.

It is pertinent to mention here that the province has witnessed an unprecedented rain spell, resulting in the declaration of the calamity in 20 districts of the province on Saturday.

According to details, Sindh government on Saturday declared 20 districts of the province including six of them in Karachi as calamity-hit after recent rain spell wreaked havoc in these areas.

Taking to Twitter, Spokesman of the Sindh government Murtaza Wahab shared a provincial government’s notification, announcing to declare 20 districts as calamity-affected under the Sindh Calamities Act of 1958.

The six districts of Karachi, where rain has caused at least 33 deaths in the ongoing rain spell, declared calamity-hit included South, East, West, Central, Korangi and Malir districts.

Nine districts of the Hyderabad division, three districts of Mirpurkhas division and two districts from Shaheed Benazirabad division are also declared calamity-hit.

The Hyderabad division areas included Hyderabad, Badin, Thatta, Sujawal, Tando Muhammad Khan, Matiari and Dadu.

Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, and Tharparkar districts of the Mirpurkhas division and Sanghar and Shaheed Benazirabad districts of the Shaheed Benazirabad division are also included in the list of calamity-hit areas.

The deputy commissioners have been directed to assess the losses incurred in the districts owing to rain and floods, the notification read.