New guidelines for mobile towers

Thiruvananthapuram: At a time when unauthorised mobile towers are mushrooming in the state, the Department of Telecommunication has issued fresh guidelines for  installing  mobile towers.

The centre has directed the state to form district and state-level telecom committees for reviewing all telecom infrastructure-related matters in the state. The state-level committee comprises  various departments, including  PWD, Health, LSGD, Revenue, Environment,  PCB and  state head of BSNL.

There are thousands of mobile towers in the state and the local bodies are unable to keep a tab on the illegal ones.   A top official of IT Department said that a government order has been issued to all departments to constitute the committees chaired by district collectors in every district.

Pollution Control Board  Chairman K. Sajeevan told DC that  the new guidelines will help streamline telecom infrastructure in the state. He said that the current mechanism was unable to ensure that the mobile towers were  functioning in the allowed radiation limit.

“Towers are erected by agencies deployed by the network providers and the authorities are unable to discuss the issue directly with the stakeholders. The local bodies are clueless on the number of antennas in a single mobile tower. Also the state doesn’t have a record on the number of towers in the state.  The new guidelines will definitely help manage teleinfras scientifically,” said Mr Sajeevan.