News: MCG to survey illegal mobile towers next month-18-12-2020
The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will begin a survey to identify illegal mobile towers next month, officials said on Friday.
This follows the MCG request to telecommunication companies last month to provide a list of their mobile towers in the city. The exercise resulted in the discovery of 367 illegal towers. As per MCG officials, fewer than 200 mobile towers are legal.
MCG officials, however, said they expected to find more illegal towers in the survey. In 2018, the civic body had identified more than 5,000 illegal mobile towers and subsequently given telecommunication companies two months time to regularise them.
The survey they will also inspect the structural stability buildings hosting mobile towers. If there is damage, the company will be asked to move the tower.
“Regularising of mobile towers is essential as it will ensure that they are conforming to the norms. It will also help us identify structures which may not be able to support the weight of these towers and are susceptible to collapse. We can subsequently initiate remedial action,” said Vinay Pratap Singh, commissioner, MCG.
The MCG has also reduced the annual licensing fees for mobile towers within the jurisdiction from ₹2.5 lakh to ₹15,000 in the hope of ensuring towers are regularised, help them generate revenue and provide good service to people.
MCG officials also revealed that none of the mobile towers has a valid fire No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire department. However, with the Haryana Fire Service Act stating that a NOC is only required for structures that have occupancy, the fire department has not initiated any action on the matter.
