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“Mercury Streak”, the optical fibre network connecting Kashmir Valley (Srinagar) to Leh, the Shangrila of India is being dedicated to the nation by Shri Dayanidhi Maran, Hon’ble Minister for Communication and Information Technology, at Srinagar on 05 Oct 2005. An impressive ceremony is planned to commemorate the occasion. This ceremony in likely to be attended by the Chief Minister J&K and senior officers from the Govt, the Army and the BSNL.
“Mercury Streak” is the brainchild of Lt Gen Davinder Kumar, the Present Signal Officer-in-Chief, who is a member of the IT Task Force of the Prime Minister. He mooted the idea of strategic alliances between the Army and other service providers both, to conserve the resources as also to expedite the development process. The Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) route from Srinagar to Leh was taken up as first such project between the Army, BSNL and the Border Roads Organisation. After the Kargil War, the route was extended upto Karu.
The Signal Officer-in-Chief, has expressed hope that this network will provide the much-needed broadband, converged communication facilities to the troops deployed in Ladakh region.
It has taken three years of sustained and rigorous effort from the army, the BSNL and Boarder Roads Organisation to lay and secure the cable. The optical fibre cable passes through some of the most beautiful, picturesque and yet unforgiving terrain where one false step is the difference between life and death. The personnel of the three organizations have toiled fruits of with utmost dedication to ensure that Ladakh and Kargil regions do not miss out on the fruits of communication revolution.
The OFC Network besides providing a high capacity coverage to these areas is immune to eavesdropping, jamming and electromagnetic radiations. Both the Army and the BSNL are exploiting this backbone OFC by porting appropriate applications and services. As the time goes by this OFC route will usher in an era of development and knowledge, and assist the population of the J&K move into the information age
SKS//VKJ/GSJ/SSR
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