DoT flags 865 pending telcom tower proposals with Bihar govt

The department of telecommunications (DoT) has flagged the inordinate delay in getting right of way (RoW) clearance for installation of 865 mobile communication towers in Bihar, which is hampering connectivity in many villages of the state that has the country’s lowest tele-density, officials said.

DoT’s director-general (DG) S K Jain had expressed serious concern about it during the review meeting of the digital infrastructure deployment on September 12 in New Delhi. This was followed by a letter on September 22 from Ram Raj Yadava, DoT’s director (rural), Bihar, to Arunish Chawla, state’s additional chief secretary with urban development and housing department (UD&HD), the state’s nodal authority, seeking his intervention to clear the pendency on a priority basis.