Parliament Question: Internet and Mobile Connectivity in Flood-Affected Assam Districts

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1667 ANSWERED ON 29TH JULY, 2026 INTERNET AND MOBILE CONNECTIVITY IN FLOOD-AFFECTED ASSAM DISTRICTS 1667. SHRI GAURAV GOGOI: Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state: (a) the details and number of mobile towers and optical fibre network points damaged or rendered non-functional in Assam during the June 2026, early monsoon floods; (b) the average restoration time for telecom connectivity in flood-affected districts in Assam during the year 2024 and 2025; (c) whether any flood-resilient telecom infrastructure standard has been notified for installations in chronically flood-prone areas; and (d) the details and number of villages in Assam currently covered under the BharatNet optical fibre programme, the number where the connection is functional and active and the number where physical infrastructure exists but service is not operational? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR) (a) No mobile towers or optical fibre network points were damaged or rendered non-functional in Assam during the June 2026 early monsoon floods. (b) The average restoration time for telecom connectivity in flood-affected districts in Assam in 2024 and 2025 was 3-4 days. (c) As a measure to strengthen uninterrupted telecom connectivity during disasters, DoT has issued the SOP-2020 for Telecommunication Services during disasters. The SOP outlines preventive and preparedness measures to ensure the resilience and effective utilization of telecommunication networks in disaster-prone regions including flood-prone areas. Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) are required to ensure the safety of physical infrastructure, network redundancy, vulnerability assessment of critical network components, backup of network elements, implementation of overload prevention measures and other disaster resilience measures. In addition to this, special measures are taken in flood prone areas like the plinth should be kept high and location of exchanges/ critical equipment to be preferably at higher altitude area to avoid inundation of water etc. (d) Total number of Gram Panchayats (GPs) covered under Bharat Net optical fiber programme in Assam are 2665. Total No of GPs connected are 1507, out of which 174 are operational as on 30.06.2026 under Bharat Net. ***** 1