Illegal telecom towers aplenty in Rewari

Ravinder Saini

Around 44 per cent telecommunication towers in Rewari city have been installed illegally without obtaining the approval of the Rewari Municipal Council. 

The irregularity has come to light in the reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by Saket Dhingra, a resident of Chhipatwara locality in Rewari city. Dhingra had sought information about telecommunication towers from the municipal council.

“In the reply, the municipal council states that 75 towers have been set up in areas within its jurisdiction while 33 installed outside its jurisdiction are illegal. A fee of Rs 1.11 lakh each has been deposited for only 11 towers. Interestingly, the municipal council has sealed only two towers during the past five years,” says Dhingra.  

He claims that the no-objection certificate (NOC) has not been obtained from the Fire Department for any telecom tower. The towers installed illegally have caused a huge revenue loss to the municipal council. According to the rules, all illegal towers should be sealed but the municipal council seems to be in no mood to act against them, he adds. 

Manoj Yadav, Executive Officer of Rewari Municipal Council, says that the state government had in 2018 framed a policy to regularise telecommunication towers. Under the policy, a committee of district administrative officers led by the Deputy Commissioner was formed to grant approval to the towers, he adds. “According to the government policy, a portal has been established for applying online for approval. The application automatically reaches the municipal council concerned for further action. Applications for fresh approval were filed for around 15 telecommunication towers recently. A fee of Rs 1 lakh was charged for the towers with the application,” says Yadav.

However, Yadav could not give a satisfactory reply when asked why no action had been taken against illegal towers installed several years ago. Sajjan Kumar Sangwan, Fire Station Officer, says that obtaining a NoC for fire safety is mandatory for every telecommunication tower. Even the NoC has to be obtained afresh every year but no application for the renewal of approval for any tower has been received, he adds.

“In all, applications for NoC from the Fire Department were received for 12 telecommunication towers in 2012 and all of them were cleared. Thereafter, no application for the NoC for a new or old tower has been received in the past seven years,” says Sangwan.