HYDERABAD: Resurvey of city cell towers soon

HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will take up a resurvey of cell towers in the city, including those that came up in the last two years.

A decision to this effect was taken by mayor Banda Karthika Reddy on Tuesday at a meeting, with engineering and town planning officials, on cell towers.

A survey was conducted by the engineering wing in January 2008 to ascertain the number of cell towers as telecom operators were erecting towers without any permission from the corporation.

According to the 2008 survey, there are 2,997 cell towers belonging to operators like Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL, Idea, Reliance and Tata. Later, on the directions of the AP High Court, the GHMC had got the cell towers' structural stability verified by private agencies last year. The court had directed the GHMC to check stability of towers which were erected prior to January 2008 without any permission.

Structural stability of each cell tower was checked by private consultants by collecting Rs 25,000 from each company. The stability study revealed that 198 towers were unsafe and structurally weak. Now, during the meeting, it came to the notice that several operators had erected cell towers in the last two years which were not checked by the corporation.

Mayor Banda Karthika Reddy directed the engineering and town planning officials to conduct circle-wise resurvey and submit a report within 15 days.

In view of concerns over radiation from cell towers, the mayor has decided to write a letter to the AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB) to find out whether cell towers pose danger to human beings. It was also decided to take steps on removal of structurally unsafe cell towers and collect Rs one lakh fee from each cell tower as decided by the state government by overcoming legal hurdles as some operators had approached the High Court and got status quo orders.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12-29/hyderabad/28264774_1_cell-towers-structural-stability-check-stability