The Indian Express                        03.04.2013

New mobile tower rules in PMC’s revised Development Plan

With more towers for mobile phones coming up in the city, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) administration has for the first time included norms for setting up the towers. The move is part of development control (DC) rules under the revised Development Plan (DP) for old areas of the city.

"The decision to include norms for mobile towers was taken as a lot of issues, mainly related to health, were raised. There was a need to have common norms. They are being included in the DC rules," said a civic officer.

The norms for setting up towers are in accordance with policies laid down by the central and state governments, he said.

As per the DC rules, validity for new and existing proposals of towers shall not exceed three years. Proposals for installation of towers on buildings should be accompanied by a structural stability report from an approved structural designer who should state that the building is structurally perfectly and safe to bear the load of the tower, in case of new proposals. if a tower has already been installed, a structural designer shall confirm whether the building is structurally safe to bear the load. The report by the structural designer has to specify the centre of gravity and design of the base of the tower.

The proposal shall be accompanied by an agreement on stamp paper of a requisite amount signed by the owner of the building or in the housing society where the tower is proposed. The tower location shall be selected after ensuring no danger of any kind would be caused within an area around the tower of a radius of at least 1.5 times the height of the tower. The tower should have a lighting guard system and enough red lamps to warn of danger.

Permission would be granted after documents are submitted. The documents include the structural stability certificate from a licenced structural designer, NoC from house owner or housing society, copy of approved building plan, NoC from all residents of the apartments in the building and NoCs of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), if required.