Mobile services partially restored in Jammu and Kashmir

Mobile services have been "somewhat" restored in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir, except in Poonch, Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said here Saturday.

"The central government has worked a lot to restore communication in the valley. There are 12,306 base transceiver stations (BTS) in the region, out of which 6,811 got submerged under the flood water," Prasad told reporters here.

"I am happy to say 1,208 BTS are restored," the minister said.

He said state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was allowing free calls for one week and private telecom players were allowing 60 minutes free talk time every day.

Inter-circle roaming has been permitted for 15 days. "Any operator can use the tower of another operator to help the flood victims," the minister said.

"Apart from this in Srinagar airport we have constructed five PCOs, which can be accessed free," he added.

Around 8,000 landlines have started working in the Kashmir Valley.

"Except Poonch, mobile services are somewhat available everywhere," he said.

Over 200 people have died and nearly 1,30,000 people have been rescued in the flood-ravaged state so far.