The sealing of five mobile towers located in the vicinity of Central prison at Kalapet has once again raised the issue of existence of illegal mobile towers in different parts of Puducherry.
As per the standard procedures for setting up of cell phone towers, the service providers or mobile tower operators have to obtain a no objection certificate for establishing such towers from the Standing Advisory Committee for Radio Frequency Allocation (SACFA).
Sources said there were 153 cell phone towers in Puducherry. However, 121 cell phone towers had been erected without permission and functioning for long.
When the issue was raised by A. Anbazhagan, AIADMK MLA, on the floor of the Legislative Assembly recently, the government had admitted that the service providers had not obtained permission for setting up majority of the cell phone towers. But the government had not taken any action to regulate the functioning of such towers despite the issue being raked up in the Assembly.
‘Lt. Governor must intervene’
Only after Lt. Governor Kateria's inspection of Kalapet jail, the revenue officials have sealed five towers situated close to the jail as they were making the jammers inside the prison ineffective. “The operators of most of the cell phone towers have violated the guidelines issued by the Central government on factors such as location, height and length of microwave etc.
The Puducherry government has also not bothered to monitor such cell phone towers established without its approval,” says Mr. Anbazhagan.
He has submitted a petition to the Lieutenant Governor Virendra Kataria in this regard.
He charged that the towers erected in residential areas were causing innumerable hardships to the residents apart from health hazards.
Seeking the Lt. Governor’s intervention to check the illegal mobile towers, Mr. Anbazhagan said officers should be instructed to inspect all the cell phone towers and take suitable action to ensure safety and security of the people living nearby the towers.
The radiation and microwave length should also be monitored and any deviation in this regard should be reported to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Department of Telecom and other agencies for appropriate action, he demanded.
