HYDERABAD: As the city witnesses huge traffic snarls on Sunday, the final day of Ganesh idol immersion, the scene online was even more chaotic.
With prime minister Narendra Modi’s #digitalIndia campaign taking the web world by storm, denizens in the city were raring to connect to the cyberspace from their mobile phones to post and tweet selfies, partnering in thecountry’s first digital initiatives. But the internet traffic around Hussainsagar witnessed an even more hectic scene.
The data available with the department of IT, Electronics and Communication here points out that the internet traffic touched an astonishing high Sunday, recording over eight times the average number of sessions. While the Hussainsagar area witnesses an average of 268 free sessions in a normal day, the free sessions climbed to 3,385 sessions Sunday.
The Wi-Fi service that was launched on April 16 this year by network carrier BSNL, in association with Quadgen, provides a free session for the first 30 minutes after which one needs to pay according to different data plans ranging from `30 for 30 minutes to `150 for 24 hours.
Four hotspots are located at Lumbini Park, Necklace Road, Sanjeevaiya Park and Tank Bund road, each covering a radius of 150 metres, provides a speed of 2Mbps to 20Mbps. “It is not surprising as thousands had gathered around the lake on Sunday. Usually, the usage around the lake is not very high because the crowd movement here is not static. It is only when there is a crowd, the network sees some activity,” said AS Ramesh, director (Communications), IT,E&C department.
According to him, places like Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station and Jubilee Bus Stations record the highest number of net usage on a daily basis. However, despite the 3,385 sessions of internet usage from around the lake area, only 19 paid sessions were recorded.
Public Wi-Fi connectivity is available along the entire stretch covering Tankbund Road, Sanjeevayya Park, Necklace Road, Batukamma Ghat, NTR Park, and Lumbini Park etc.
This apart, public Wi-Fi services have been launched at Charminar, Birla Science Museum, NIMS hospital, Gandhi hospital, Public Gardens, Taramati Baradari resort, Tourism Plaza hotel, Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station and Jubilee Bus Stations. All these hotspots put together, recorded 4,021 sessions, of which 3,385 were from around the Hussaisagar lake.
5 Die in Road Mishaps
Hyderabad: Five youngsters including three B Tech graduates died in separate road accidents while returning from Ganesh immersion festivities. While three B Tech graduates died after their car rammed a shop in Banjara Hills, a person was run over by tractor while returning from Ganesh immersion in Chevella and another person died after a speeding RTC bus hit a bike in Narsingi police limits. Three B Tech graduates Sai Teja, 24, Naren Sai, 23 and Sharath Chandra, 23, residents of Uppal came to Hussainsagar in a car on Sunday night. All the roads were blocked due to Ganesh immersion. Teja who was driving the car took alternative routes via Banjara Hills to proceed to Uppal. As the car reached Road No 2, Banjara Hills, Teja lost control over the vehicle and rammed into a shop. In the mishap, Teja and Naren, who received serious head injuries died on the spot and Sarath was shifted to hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead. Similarly, 19-year-old Suresh was crushed to death when he came under wheels of a speeding tractor at Ibrahimpally in Chevella police limits on Sunday night. Around 1 am, Suresh and his friends, who participated in the Ganesh immersion, were returning home by a tractor. Suresh fell from the tractor and came under its wheels. In another mishap, an unknown person died on the spot and his friends injured after a speeding RTC bus hit a bike on which the victims were riding at Bandlaguda on Monday.
Net Sessions Hit New Height
September 10 (average day): 431 free WiFi sessions (around Hussainsagar lake)
September 27 (final day of immersion): 3,385
Daily average from across the city: 268 users per hotspot.