Half of city's mobile towers are unauthorised: NMMC

September 16, 2011

Half of city's mobile towers are unauthorised: NMMC

[DNA : Daily News & Analysis (India)]

(DNA : Daily News & Analysis (India) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nearly half of the
cellphone towers in Navi Mumbai are unauthorised, a report from the Navi Mumbai
Municipal Corporation's town planning department shows.
As per the details made available by the town planning department of Navi Mumbai
Municipal Corporation (NMMC), out of the 749 cellphone towers erected across the city,
350 of them are unauthorised. Vashi has the most illegal towers, while Digha has the least.
The department of telecommunication had in 2006 suggested that operators should not
install towers in residential areas. According to rules, companies are given the option of
installing towers in forest regions. The next best space is open space that is not close to
residential areas. When these two options are not feasible, towers should be installed in
open areas after getting the consent of people living in nearby residential properties.
Cellphone antennas should be erected beyond a periphery of 100 m from schools and
hospitals. Civic body officials said that before allowing a company to erect a tower on
some building, they make sure that the structure (building) has the capacity to accomodate
the tower. However, residents are doubtful whether these norms are being followed and
for them the rising number of unauthorised towers has become a big worry.
A Vashi resident said that the corporation must act swiftly to remove illegal towers. "Norms
are being defied everywhere. They need to see where norms are being defied," the
resident said. These towers are a huge health hazard for people living near them, which is
why the civic body must remove the unauthorised towers."Despite complaints from local
people, the NMMC has said it will take another two to three months to crack down on
unauthorised cell antennas. "We have distributed list of illegal towers to ward officials. The
towers could not be removed as our officials were busy with Ganeshotsav. I don't have
details pertaining to unauthorised towers right now, but the entire work will be completed
within two to three months," deputy municipal commissioner (encroachment), Aziz Sheikh
said.

navimumbai@dnaindia.netCredit:DNA Correspondent(c) 2011
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