Claims of Cellphone Jamming During Tata Motors Factory Protests

Protesters outside the Tata Motors factory in India's West Bengal have accused the local phone companies of blocking the mobile phones. As some 30,000 protesters lined the streets around the factory to complain that the land was taken from local farmers, it was reported that many users were having to walk for a mile or more before being able to use their mobile phones.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, leading the protests, said: "I donĂ't know about others, but my BSNL phone given by parliament is not working here. I hope you have understood why is it so."

Proactive cellphone jamming is unlikely though - and the problem is almost certainly down to the simple fact that the networks were not designed to cope with so many people trying to use them in such a small area.

The police have also denied asking the networks to block the networks in the area - although they have done so in the past in other parts of the country where inter-religious violence has flared up.

The factory, about 40 km from Kolkata has been set up to build Tata's ultra-cheap motor car, the Nano and covers some 997 acres. The protestors are demanding that the company return some 400 acres to farmers as they were allegedly not fully compensated for their losses.

Tata Motors said on Friday that it may choose to relocate the factory if the protests continue - threatening hundreds of local jobs.

The political party leading the protests - the Trinamool Congress is noted for calling frequent general strikes and disrupting normal life in West Bengal. In April 2008, Trinamool Congress called upon its weapon once again - another 12-hour total West Bengal state shutdown 'Bandh' protesting against overall price increase in all commodities & inflationary effect on the common man.

Posted to the site on 25th August 2008