MUZAFFARABAD(National Times)- The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has announced a phased restoration of internet services across the region, with broadband and cellular data services to resume fully in some districts while access will remain restricted to educational institutions and banks in others.
The Home Department, in a notification issued on Sunday, directed the secretary of the Ministry of Interior to initiate restoration of broadband and cellular data services from Monday (Aug 31) according to a district-wise schedule. Under the schedule, full broadband and cellular data services will be restored in Neelum district, including Upper and Lower Neelum, as well as Leepa Valley and Haveli district.
Broadband services will also be restored throughout Bhimber and Mirpur districts. In Muzaffarabad district, broadband access will be confined to educational institutions — schools, colleges and universities — and banks. The same arrangement will apply in Jhelum Valley.
In Bagh district, broadband services will be available only to educational institutions and banks within the municipal limits of Bagh and Dhirkot. Similarly, in Kotli district, broadband access will be restricted to educational institutions and banks, except in Sehnsa, Sarsawa and Tattapani where services will remain shut.
No internet services will be restored in Rawalakot and Sudhnoti districts, where the suspension will continue.
Bankers in the capital welcomed the restoration, saying it would ease pressure on branches that had been handling a heavy volume of customers in the absence of digital banking facilities.
Ordinary citizens, however, expressed disappointment over the limited scope of the restoration, particularly those dependent on the internet for their livelihoods.
Faisal Javed, president of the Association of Pharmacies and Medical Stores, said the suspension had severely disrupted electronic payments, leaving both traders and customers in difficulty.
Internet services were suspended across AJK on June 5 amid a law and order situation following the government’s decision to proscribe the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).
