Kathmandu. Ncell has announced to extend the duration of the free service that it has been providing for 7 days in the flood-affected areas of the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa. With the objective of facilitating communication, search, rescue, and relief distribution, Ncell has decided to provide this free service for an additional 7 days from tomorrow, September 20, i.e. till September 10.

Along with this, Ncell’s voice, data, and SMS services will be made available for free for one more week in the affected areas. Earlier, Ncell had announced to provide free voice, data and SMS services for three days in the affected areas on August 26, the day of the floods. After that, the duration of the free service was extended by 7 days till September 19.

“In order to ensure smooth communication in this difficult time, we have decided to extend the free service period by another 7 days in the affected areas. As 92% of the damaged towers have been restored, we are confident that this free service will help the affected communities to stay in touch with their families and relatives and coordinate the necessary coordination with the rescue and relief teams,” said Upang Dutta, Chief Consumer Business Officer of Ncell.

During a disaster, communication services play an important role in the exchange of information, mutual coordination and effective search, rescue and relief distribution. The free service has made it easier for the general public of the affected communities to stay in touch with family members, relatives and teams involved in rescue and relief work.

92 percent of the affected towers are in operation

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Ncell has been providing service by restoring 92 percent of its towers that were blocked in the affected areas due to the Bhotekoshi floods. The company has also said that it is working to restore the remaining towers.

A total of 27 towers of Ncell were disrupted due to the floods. On Thursday, the company reopened its 25th tower in Trishuli of Nuwakot. However, one tower in Ghattekhola, Timure of Rasuwa has been completely destroyed. Ncell has said that necessary coordination is being made to restore the service by delivering necessary equipment to the remaining one tower in Uttargaya and Tiru of Rasuwa.

Ncell has been helping to maintain communication services during disasters and in search, rescue, relief, and awareness spreading. The concerned agencies have been disseminating informational messages through SMS, calltones, and their social media pages and accounts.

Similarly, a day after the floods, Ncell had donated Rs. 1 crore to the Prime Minister’s Natural Disaster Relief Fund through Ncell Foundation to contribute in the search, rescue, relief and rehabilitation.