Kargil Lessons

Daily Kashmir Images
Gowhar Nazir Shah
Daily kashmir Images, Oct 6, 2005
Perhaps learning its lessons well from 1998 Kargil episode, the Indian Army has decided to take no chances with the communication in today's information and networking age. And the 'necessity of effective communication' gave birth to 'Mercury Streak'- a project which has now connected Srinagar with Karu in Ladakh region through Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) network.The project which is a joint venture of Indian Army, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Border Road Organization (BRO) was completed on August 28 this year after 16 months of working time in three seasons, precisely in a period of three years. Dedicating the project "Mercury Streak’ to the nation during the inaugural ceremony held in the auditorium of Badami Bagh cantonment here on Wednesday afternoon, the Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Thiru Dayanidhi Maran described the event as historic. T D Maran said: "Dedication of Mercury Streak, the strategic alliance OFC network from Srinagar to Karu, to the nation, is indeed a historic event and a matter of great national pride".Lauding the "commitment of Army in defending the country" Maran said: "It is only Army personnel who can sacrifice life for the sake of nation. Our Army needs better communication to serve the nation better".After clicking the mouse button to dedicate the project, Maran also made an inaugural mobile call to Ladakh from Srinagar.Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed who was supposed to be present on the occasion could not make it to the venue due to some "unavoidable circumstances".Speaking on the occasion the Lt. Gen. Davinder Kumar who represented Army's communication wing as signal officer-in-chief said: "The high capacity optical fiber route (474 kilometres) will provide the much needed broadband connectivity to the strategically important locations of Srinagar, Sonmarg, Leh and Karu". Lt. Gen. Davinder Kumar had conceived the idea of linking Srinagar with Leh through OFC. After the Kargil war, Kumar said that the resolve to make Indian Army network savvy got stronger."Besides the Army, the network will bring to the masses of Jammu and Kashmir the power of OFC", he added.GOC of sensitive 15 corps Lt. Gen. S S Dhillon said that project was an effort by the Army to participate in the infrastructure development of J&K."This is yet another feather in the cap of IT warriors of Indian Army", said Dhillon.Secretary Department of Telecommunications and Chairman Telecom Commission Dr. J S Sarma, Chairman and Managing Director BSNL A K Sinha also spoke on the occasion.