Ham radio to the aid of poll officials
KATTAPPANA, September 24, 2010
Ham Radio will provide help during elections in remote tribal grama panchayat of Edamalakudy in Idukki district. Some of the members of Idukki Ham Radio Emergency Communication Society.
The help of Ham radio will be available during the election at the remote Edamalakudy tribal grama panchayat in the Munnar forest area.
Edamalakudy is the remotest polling station in Idukki district where one has to travel on foot for nearly 20 km through a dense forest and during the election time, officials reach a day in advance at the hamlet.
“The district administration has sought our help to provide the latest input related to the elections there and a temporary mobile station will function at the hilltop near Edamalakudy,'' said Manoj Galaxy, member of the Emergency Communication Society, Idukki Ham Radio.
He said that the repeater station at the Tenth Mile near Cheruthoni will provide the support for the functioning of the election-related work in remote areas.
After the creation of Edamalakudy as the first tribal grama panchayat, which was earlier a ward of the Munnar grama panchayat, there is no other way of communication and wireless sets or mobile telephone is of little help.
According to him, though the use of Ham radio is at an early stage of development in the district with only 30 members, it had served as the main communication source during natural calamities and emergency situations.
He said the present capacity of the tower is 1.5 W and if it is raised to 20 W, it would serve better during the emergency situations.
The temporary mobile station at Edamalakudy will serve as a medium of communication between the election officials and the district election office at Painavu.
District Collector Ashok Kumar Singh recently held a meeting with the office-beares of the Emergency Communication Society and asked them to function as the main communication agent at Edamalakudy.
According to P.L. Nizamudeen, a short wave listener, the interest among the public towards Ham radio is increasing and it was operated as the main communication network in the district during accidents, providing information to hospitals and relatives of the victims.
The Ham radio service will also be available in other remote areas like Chakkimali, Kannimali and Vairamani to send messages to the collectorate at Painavu, he said.
