Illegal mobile phone towers may be sealed in Delhi: CM

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said Delhi Government might consider sealing some of the illegal mobile phone towers in the capital if it is found that they may cause health concerns to participants of the Commonwealth Games.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday said Delhi Government might consider sealing some of the illegal mobile phone towers in the capital if it is found that they may cause health concerns to participants of the Commonwealth Games.

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Maintaining that the matter was in the domain of civic agency MCD, Dikshit said Delhi Government might intervene to ensure removal of the towers "either temporarily or permanently" if such a health concern was raised.

"It is an issue which should be addressed by the MCD. MCD has to take action. But if because of these towers, health concerns for participants of Commonwealth Games are raised, we will have to intervene. We will have to remove them either temporarily or permanently," Dikshit said.

The Delhi High Court had on May 13 restrained MCD from sealing illegal mobile phone towers in the capital after the mobile operators approached it challenging the decision of the MCD to hike the charges.

The mobile operators had contended that the decision of the MCD to hike the charges was "arbitrary" and without any sound basis.

The MCD had started the sealing of illegal mobile phone towers after expiry of the deadline for operators to apply for regularisation after payment of the hiked amount.

MCD had said out of 5,364 towers in the city, only 2,412 have requisite permission and the remaining 2,952 were illegal in all the city's 12 municipal zones.

The civic body had earlier sealed 300 illegal towers and given several deadlines to the tower operators to apply for regularisation in keeping with new guidelines unveiled by it.

The MCD had on February 9 brought in a new policy on mobile towers.

According to the revised guidelines for cell towers, the amount payable by the service providers to the MCD for installing a tower has been increased from Rs one lakh to Rs 5 lakh.