Posted on Friday, January 08, 2010 - 11:01 pm:

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Appanna Ramuni Lanka (Konaseema): This tiny village nestling between the mighty Godavari on one side and the Bay of Bengal on the other mesmerises visitors with its scenic beauty. Antarvedi, the abode of the temple of Lord Sri Narasimhaswami, where the Godavari joins the sea, is close by.

This and another 11 island villages have another distinction to their credit – they are highly networked, thanks to BSNL.

Out of the 4,000 inhabitants of Appanna Ramuni Lanka, 1,000 are in various countries and in other States in the country.

But all the villagers are in regular touch with their near and dear ones not only through phone line, but also through webcam, e-mail, web-phone and other facilities, all made possible by broadband.

The island villages in Sakhinetipalli mandal have taken broadband connections in the last one month. "This has become possible through the Prachara Rathams concept introduced by our General Manager G. Raghavendra Rao. We started with two villages -- Appanna Ramuni Lanka and Razole Lanka," said Kadambari Rammohan, team leader of BSNL. Village sarpanch Palagummi Durga Sankar said most of the youth in Appanna Ramuni Lanka and surrounding villages are highly educated and they need broadband. Earlier, students, used to go to Razole or Sakhinetipalli to use Internet facility.

"But after this facility came to our village things have changed. I am doing my Ph.D., for which broadband is essential," said P. Sandhya, who is also in regular touch with her fiends in the US and Hyderabad through webcam.

Underground cables

One question everyone here was worried about was will floods in the Godavari be a hassle? "No problem. We have used five pairs of underground cables which will not get affected even when there is a natural calamity. We are also laying another cable from pole to house for connection. For Rs. 250 we are giving the connection," said Mr. Rammohan.

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