State housing and urban development (H&UD) secretary Injeti
Srinivas, while reviewing the progress of the proposed regulation on
February 28, has asked the BDA to expedite the finalization so that it
can be sent to the H&UD for vetting and subsequent approval.

“We have almost completed the draft regulation. We will send it to the
government for approval within a week,” BDA vice-chairman Vishal Dev
told TOI.

Once the special regulation is in place, the BDA and
the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be empowered to
regulate the process of installation of telecom infrastructure towers in
the state capital.

As of now, there is virtually no regulation
on the installation of towers, leading to mushrooming of illegal towers
in Bhubaneswar. The city at present has nearly 265 towers of different
private telecom companies. Though the state commerce and transport
department had a few years ago formulated certain guidelines for the
erection of towers, there was ambiguity over the executing authority.

“The existing guidelines are silent on who can take on the offenders.
Recently, the BMC attempted to dismantle an illegal tower. But the
company moved the court and got a stay order,” said an H&UD officer.
“While the BMC provides no-objection certificate, the BDA grants the
permission for constructing towers on buildings,” he added. The civic
body charges Rs 12,400 for providing NOC for each tower and Rs 3,400 for
renewal of the licenses annually.

Citizens have also expressed
their concern on the issue after H&UD minister Raghunath Mohanty
had admitted in the assembly last year that a few towers had been
installed in the city illegally. “In some cases, towers have been
constructed on age-old buildings, jeopardizing lives of people. Radio
frequencies generated from the towers are also harmful for people,” said
Pramod Mohanty, a senior citizen.

Significantly, the school
and mass education department had in September last year asked district
administrations not to allow cell phone towers on school premises in
view of health hazards.