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Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has reported that 98 per cent of the mobile towers in the 11 eastern districts affected by the recent floods are now operational.
BTRC's temporary monitoring and control room said on Saturday that out of 14,551 total towers in these flood-hit districts, 254 tower sites are still non-functional as of 9:00 am.
The breakdown of disabled towers includes 43 in Noakhali, 11 in Lakshmipur, 72 in Feni, nine in Cumilla, 24 in Brahmanbaria, 18 in Chattogram, 14 in Khagrachari, 15 in Habiganj, eight in Moulvibazar, 32 in Sylhet, and eight in Cox’s Bazar, totalling 254 towers, bdnews24.com reports.
An unexpected flash flood caused by heavy rainfall and hill runoff from India submerged 12 southeastern districts of Bangladesh in mid-August, knocking out power and disrupting over 2,000 mobile towers or sites.
As a result, communication in the flood-affected areas was severely hampered.
The lack of communication made rescue operations and relief efforts challenging in remote areas.
However, as floodwaters recede, the mobile towers are gradually becoming operational again.