Indian Express 30.11.2010
Corporators want higher penalty against illegal mobile towers
Express News Service Tags : BMC, unauthorised mobilephone towers Posted: Tue Nov 30 2010, 03:38 hrs
Mumbai: Several BMC corporators on Monday, expressing concern over unauthorised mobilephone towers mushrooming in the city — BMC data puts the number at 1,628— recommended heavy penalty against defaulters for regularisation of the towers instead of the Rs 5,000 charged now. One of them also demanded the BMC to place a white paper on possible health hazards from mobile phone towers.The matter cropped up on Monday at the civic body Improvements Committee meeting. The corporators said this was the only course of action left as the BMC could not demolish the towers as per a State Government directive, and the fine levied at present was too low to act as a deterrent.
“The fine Rs 5000 imposed to regularise each illegal mobile tower is very less. Companies should be charged hefty sums if they want to regularise their towers,” said Manmohan Chonkar, Shiv Sena corporator and Improvements Committee member.
At the Improvement Committee meeting, various phone companies were criticised for erecting illegal mobile towers and the administration came under fire for allowing mushrooming of illegal towers.
“The issue of illegal mobile towers, the resulting health hazards, the easy way with which these companies are able to regularise illegal mobile towers is not being taken seriously by the administration,” said Upendra Doshi, a Congress corporator.
“Whether it is a health hazard for citizens has also not been researched by the BMC and in that case we need to think seriously about regularising illegal towers”, said another corporator.
According to BMC data, Khar, Bandra, Santacruz, Vile Parle, Andheri and Jogeshwari have over 560 illegal towers. H-East ward (Bandra-Khar East have 96, H-West ward (Bandra West, Khar West and Santacruz West) have 211, and K-East ward (Vile Parle Andheri Jogeshwari ) 261 mobile phone towers that have been erected without civic body permission.
According to Congress Corprorator Vinod Shekhar, “mobile towers are being erected everywhere, and although there is no proof these are a health hazard, is there any guarantee that the administration can give about them being safe?... A white paper or a discussion on issues ranging from the ills of illegal mobile towers, reports from BARC, etc should be made by the BMC...This will help the administration to formulate a proper policy for mobile towers”
