House owners to face music for illegal towers

In a bid to keep a tab on illegal mobile phone towers in residential areas, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) on Friday said it will now hold house owners responsible for allowing installation of such towers on their buildings’ rooftops.

In a bid to keep a tab on illegal mobile phone towers in residential areas, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) on Friday said it will now hold house owners responsible for allowing installation of such towers on their buildings’ rooftops.

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Instead of targeting telecom service providers, the corporation will send regulatory and prohibitory notice to property owners for allowing installation of cell phone towers, MCG commissioner Ashok Sangwan said.

The announcement came during the corporation’s 15th House meeting, which saw scores of councillors calling for immediate action against the increasing number of illegal towers in the city.

According to the MCG, there are over 600 illegal mobile towers operating in Gurgaon.The commissioner said that the owners of the houses or complexes where these towers were installed would be sent notice by the MCG. He said legal action would be taken against all stakeholders responsible for the offence.

Meanwhile, MCG joint commissioner (headquarters) Anju Chaudhary informed the House members that 500 applications, including those seeking permission for the installation of mobile towers, had been rejected by the civic body.

“The corporation is losing out on revenue from the mobile towers. They also pose health risks. This is a recurring problem that has not been addressed by the MCG,” said a councillor.

An MCG official said that in some cases it would not be prudent to remove mobile towers immediately as it would cut off services to many cell phone users.