Deccan Chronicle            17.12.2013

6,000 cellphone towers in Hyderabad found to be illegal

Hyderabad: Around
6,000 cellphone towers installed in the GHMC area have been declared
illegal. The HC had made it mandatory for all cellphone companies to
seek the permission of civic authorities before putting up towers and to
pay property tax.

The GHMC on December 12 disconnected
power supply to 245 unauthorised cellphone towers. However D. Ronald
Rose, additional commissioner (Planning, GHMC), on Monday said that GHMC
had restored 245 disconnected electricity connections with a direction
to pay the installation charges to GHMC by December 18. The GHMC has
issued notices to all operators to get the towers approved within three
working days.

“Apart from enforcing guidelines, a fee of RS 1 lakh
would be collected from cell operators for each tower. Only then will
they be regularised,” said D. Ronald Rose.

There are around 7,500
cell towers in the city. While some operators had taken permission from
GHMC before installing these towers, some had not. In many cases, those
who notified the GHMC, submitted only the structural stability
certificate, but did not pay the fees.

As per new norms, the cell
phone operators have to submit location plan, site plan, elevation plan,
structural stability certificates from IITs, NITs, and other
engineering colleges approved by the AICTE or structural engineers of
government departments.

They must also submit building sanction
copy, ownership documents of the building, lease agreements, height of
the towers, NoCs from the fire department, the Airports Authority and
building owners.