Mobile, landline network now working in Bihar: R S Prasad

Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said the landline and mobile networks are now working in Bihar, where at least 23 people have died due to quake tremors.

"I talked to the MD of BSNL, the Telecom Secretary also attended the meeting with the cabinet secretary. I am told communication system was under stress because many people were talking to their family members in the country," Prasad told ANI.

"The stress is now over. Communication system is working; landline, mobile both. I will be personally monitoring it on an hourly basis," he added.

Prasad further said that the government will do whatever is needed to be done to rehabilitate those who have been affected.

Landlines and mobile networks were down in Bihar earlier forcing officials to use wireless to communicate, in the aftermath of the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that hit neighbouring Nepal this morning.

The Nepal death toll from the powerful earthquake rose to between 688 and 712, with 181 people killed in the capital Kathmandu alone.