Nine months after the civic body prepared the draft policy on mobile towers, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sent it to the urban development department of state government for approval.
Civic officials said that it has incorporated suggestions and objections received from citizens on the draft mobile tower policy prepared and published by the civic body.
“While we have received many suggestions, we have incorporated those pertaining to erecting mobile towers and not related to the radiation as the issue of emission from mobile towers is not in our jurisdiction,” said a senior civic official, adding that the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) of the union government is addressing the issue of radiation.
“So, we did not put any restriction on the number of antennas to be installed on a mobile tower as it relates to radiation,” said the official. He said the decision regarding the sealing of terraces of buildings where new cell towers will be installed has to be taken by the housing societies. Citizens had demanded that the civic body should put up a cap on the number of antennas that can be installed on a mobile tower.
The BMC had published the draft policy in November last year and invited suggestions and objections from citizens. As per the policy, a minimum distance of 36 metres should be maintained while installing mobile phone towers on educational institutions and hospitals. The policy also puts a cap on maximum of two towers to a building.
The citizens demanded that the mobile tower policy should be implemented immediately. “The policy should be brought into force immediately and with retrospective effect. So, the civic body can act against illegal towers erected in the city after the implementation of policy,” said Nikhil Desai, an activist from King’s Circle.
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