Reach out to Pakistan through radio

Harjap Singh Aujla
Former engineer

DURING the early 1970s, following Pakistan’s extensive use of the Lahore television service throughout the war for Bangladesh’s liberation, India felt the need for expanding TV services in the border regions of Punjab. Sensing a spurt in the demand for TVs in the Amritsar belt, entrepreneur HS Bhatti decided to set up a fabricating unit in Mohali to manufacture Punj Star black-and-white sets. In his address at the inauguration event, Inder Kumar Gujral, then Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, announced: “Punjab is a rich state. It’s people have the will to spend, I want every region of Punjab to be covered by first-grade TV service.” He announced a grid of several repeater transmitters to cover “every inch of Punjab”. On hearing this, the gathering applauded and gave a standing ovation to the minister.

Being an engineer, I felt the necessity to interject. I told Gujral that there was a cheaper alternative which deserved consideration. I stated that this region was lucky to have Himalayan peaks, which could be used for the installation of TV antennae for long-distance transmission. I did calculations and told him that the peaks at Kasauli and Dalhousie could each have a range of at least 100 miles, enough to cover more than the northern half of Punjab and parts of Haryana. For the rest of Punjab, a couple of high-mast transmitters at Bathinda and Fazilka would suffice. I suggested that TV transmitters be installed at Kasauli, Dalhousie, Bathinda and Fazilka to cover Punjab. Gujral wanted to locate the capital TV station in Jalandhar.

In Punjab, due to the proliferation of cable TV, the bulk of the channel distribution has been taken over by the cable system. The rest has fallen into the share of several satellite dish companies. There is no place for terrestrial TV in present-day Punjab. However, FM radio is doing well, being especially popular among commuters in cars, buses and trains. The towers which transmit TV signals are now offering FM radio services. The Kasauli tower is relaying programmes of All India Radio-Chandigarh on FM 107.2 MHz. Of late, it has started relaying programmes of All India Radio-Jalandhar also on 100.9 MHz. We have FM radio in Patiala on 100.2 MHz; Bathinda broadcasts it on 101.1 MHz; AIR-Fazilka transmits from a 300-metre-high tower on 100.8 MHz with a range of 100 km; and Ludhiana uses 100.1 MHz. All India Radio-Jalandhar uses two more transmitters broadcasting on 102.7 MHz and 100.6 MHz with a 200-metre-high tower having a range of 75 km.

The long-neglected Majha region, located between the Beas and the Ravi rivers and comprising the districts of Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Pathankot, is not receiving FM radio service, unlike the rest of Punjab. To correct the imbalance, work was started in 2007 to construct a 300-metre-high Doordarshan and All India Radio tower at Gharinda village in Amritsar district. The all-steel-frame structure was completed by the end of 2013. Subsequently, the authorities of Prasar Bharati (AIR and DD) found that the tower was slightly inclined towards one side rather than being fully erect. So, they refused to use it.

Later, All India Radio decided to temporarily erect its own 100-metre-high tower to start the long-delayed external service transmission from the tower at Gharinda. The new tower was built in 2017 and regular transmission started on September 26, 2018. Since the tower designed to cover the entire region is not functional yet, the new set-up is facing problems. First, the city of Amritsar has a haphazardly constructed downtown area, where the buildings are closely clustered. The signal from the 100-metre-high tower, located 15 miles away, does not reach some parts of central Amritsar; in the other parts, the reception is poor and erratic. Neighbouring Tarn Taran district also has some fringe areas where proper signals are not received. At present, Pathankot district is beyond the reach of the Gharinda tower. Of course, if transmission from the original 300-metre-high tower starts, most of the Pathankot district will also fall within the range of AIR-Amritsar.

There are some hills in Pathankot district, on the road to Dalhousie, where the signal from even the 300-metre-high tower will not reach the shadow areas. For these areas, the government should set up an additional low-powered transmitting station on top of one of the high peaks in Dalhousie. This location is as good as the Kasauli radio tower. Its added advantage is that its penetration is about 110 km inside Pakistan. A transmitter at this location will solve the problem of shadow areas in central Amritsar too. When two transmissions hit the same area, one from the north and the other from the west, the shadow areas will start getting at least one signal clearly. The concept behind the relay of external service programmes by AIR-Amritsar FM is to cover some important areas of Pakistan through state-of-the-art broadcast technology. In order to achieve better penetration into Pakistan, India should use the Dalhousie peak to relay FM programmes of the Urdu Service and the Des Punjab Service. The Dalhousie tower will be able to cover several additional areas in the neighbouring Pakistani districts of Sialkot, Gujranwala, Gujrat and Jhelum. Some of these areas can’t be covered from any location in Amritsar.

Pakistan is admittedly a difficult neighbour. But the onus is on the Indian Government to reach out to a chunk of its population by radio. A few years ago, short-wave transmission was very popular for country-to-country propagation, but with the arrival of much better sound quality of FM radio, short-wave and medium-wave transmissions are fast losing their appeal. India has the advantage of the Himalayan peaks located not so far from its border with Pakistan, so why not use FM transmitters for broadcast to the sensitive areas of Pakistan from those strategic locations? Communicating with even a hostile neighbour via radio can be useful for the country.