The Pioneer 07.10.2010
BMC continues drive against illegal mobile towersStaff Reporter | Bhopal
Continuing with its drive against unauthorised mobile towers in the State capital, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday removed four mobile towers from different localities in the city.
The drive has been launched after instructions by Divisional Commissioner Manoj Shrivastava recently. Conducted jointly by the BMC’s anti-encroachment wing and Building Permission Department, the drive on the second day was conducted in Aradhana Nagar, Karond, Ayodhya Bypass and Ashoka Garden area of the city.
Officials said the move was initiated after officials of different companies whose towers were installed in the above mentioned localities did not pay heed to the legal notices served to them by the corporation in the past.
The drive that continued until Wednesday evening was carried out under the supervision of City Planner (CP) Sunita Singh, apart from officials of the district administration.
Removing an unauthorised tower does not mean uprooting it from the base. Considering safety measures as a number of them are in residential localities, officials only seize the attachments and equipment of such towers so that it stops operating.
There are 317 mobile towers in the city. Out of them, 158 have been termed as unauthorised by the Corporation.
Ironically, even after carrying out the marking exercise, the BMC could not remove over half of them, as the operators have taken a stay from the court. The ongoing drive could cut operations of only those mobile operators who have not entangled the BMC in a legal hassle.
To install a mobile tower requires a strength certificate of the structure on which it would be installed. Civil Department of MANIT has been linked for the purpose.
A No Objection Certificate (NOC) of the zonal committee is also sought along with other legal documents pertaining to land’s ownership and deed between the owner and operator.
