Over 1,600 illegal cellphone towers expose civic claims

As many as 1,657 illegal cellphone continue to dot the city’s skyline, exposing the civic body’s repeated claims of removing or regularizing them.

Only 238 cellphone towers have been set up in the city after taking proper permissions, the civic administration stated in a written reply to corporator Pramod Bhangire’s query on Friday.

In the reply, the administration stated that the civic body was earning around Rs 31crore as rent from these towers. “At a time, when the civic body is struggling to get enough revenue to fund various projects, these untapped sources of revenue (illegal towers) should be considered,” Bhangire said.

The illegal towers not just burn a huge hole in the pocket of the civic administration, but also put the lives of the residents of many housing societies, on the roof of which many such towers have been put up. “How do we know that the operators have conducted the stability checks of the building on top of which these towers have been installed,” activists said.

Civic officials, however, said norms were in place to make sure that the cellphone towers were safe. “The factors, including structural stability of the building on top of which these towers are installed and likely nuisance caused by them, are considered before giving permissions,” they said.

When it comes to revenue from these structures, the officials said, “Apart from the installation fee and development charges, the civic body also charges property tax for installing these towers. The tax is calculated based on the area used for installing the towers and their size,” they added.

Vilas Kanade, head of the property tax department, PMC, said, “The dues of these tower operators (mainly illegal) are around Rs 650 crore. We are taking efforts to recover them,” he said.

Nearly 20 telecom and internet service provider companies are operating in the city. They have installed the towers in association with other private firms, which exclusively focus on installing and maintaining them.

The activists demanded that the administration should go an extra mile to recover the money. “It is the need of hour. The civic body and the corporators are focusing more on spending money, but they are ignoring the income sources. If the cellphone towers and the revenue from them is properly managed, the finances of the civic body can go up. The administration should make sure that special drives are taken to recover the money from the companies installing the towers,” Vishwas Sahastrabuddhe of Sajag Nagrik Manch, a citizens’ group, said.

Structural auditors stressed that civic body should make sure that the stability checks are carried out. “The towers should be installed only on those buildings, which have the carrying capacity. The study of factors such as the height of the building and that of the towers and wind flow is a must,” Dhairashil Khaire-Patil, a structural auditor, said.

TIMES VIEW: Several stand-alone buildings and housing societies have allowed the installation of cellphone towers on their premises as the operators take care of in-house maintenance costs that the residents would otherwise have to pay. In the absence of permission for these towers, structural stability of the buildings is at stake and the civic body suffers a revenue loss. It’s time the civic body identifies such towers and recovers its dues.