Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has managed to restore its mobile phone service in some areas here.
BSNL chief general manager Mishi Nath Gupta told The Hindu over phone from Jammu that the short message service (SMS) service could not be restored for some time as the machinery was completely damaged in flash floods and it would take time to replace them.
The service was not banned in Leh prior to the floods, he pointed out.
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Mr. Gupta said the mobile service was restored in an area of two km as they managed to temporarily fix up the machinery in its quarters, the Deputy Commissioner's office and the Army area.
Two towers were restored in that area. This was made possible by the airlifting of the machinery by the Air Force.
“We are working very hard to restore the services, but since the road is blocked, heavy machinery cannot be taken there so it may take longer time to restore the landline service.”
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Optical fibre cable was also damaged as roads were washed away in the floods.
BSNL has sent 25 more satellite phones to restore communication.