Alappuzha: An old radio station which once caught the imagination of the whole of Central Kerala for decades is sorely in need of an upgrade. The Alappuzha Medium Wave (MW) Radio station, which is a transmission station for the Thiruvananthapuram relay station, is on the verge of closure with almost obsolete equipment. One of its two vital transmitters has conked out.

The radio station initially had two 100 kv powerful transmitters which successfully delivered the Thiruvananthapuram radio station programmes to listeners in the districts of Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Idukki. The Alappuzha radio station was established on July 17, 1971, initially operating on 580kHz and later changed to 576 kHz in 1978.

"Right from my childhood days, the AIR radio was my companion, it was informative and entertaining. The programme on agriculture and the old soulful songs are my favourites still. But these days, the audio is not clear and wavering. Still, I try to tune in to the programmes at least four to five times, even while engaged in works in the agricultural field," says Damodaran Pillai, a farmer based in Kavalam.

There was a time when the Alappuzha radio station transmitter was the most powerful transmitter in Kerala. Lakhs of people stayed tuned to popular programs like Yuvavani and Vayalum Veedum, and the news broadcast from the station as it functioned as the lone live channel for information and entertainment through the air. Even now, it engages the rural and urban households with the programs aired from Thiruvananthapuram and Delhi.

However, the station is facing a crisis now with the valve used in its HMB 140 transmitters not in production anymore, and hence the  transmitter cannot be repaired or replaced. Now transmission is done with just one transmitter and hence the reach of the station has been restricted.

"It is understood that the authorities have decided to push the station forward in this fashion as long as it goes and wind it up in not so distant future," said a retired AIR Engineer on condition of anonymity.

"Another reason for leaving the station in the cold is its relatively high power consumption. Optical valve is presently used in radio stations but it cannot be used in this old system. The Medium Wave station is being phased out by the government in the country. So by all indications, the Alappuzha radio station is fading into oblivion unless drastic measures are taken to deploy new equipment and modernize the station and give it a new face," he added.

"The Alappuzha radio station is part of the nostalgia of people of not only Alappuzha but neighbouring districts, so measures must be taken to revamp it and let it rock generation next as well," said Aravindakshan who operates a salon in Thathampally in Alappuzha and an avid listener of AIR programs.