01 February,2015 04:26 AM IST | | Laxman Singh
The BMC’s decision to give the green signal to so many mobile towers in this ward alone has invited the ire of activists and corporators
If you are a resident of F/North ward in Sion and Matunga, then get ready to spot many more mobile towers in your area. That's because the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has given permission to Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) for 31 mobile towers to be installed in the area, the highest for any ward. Overall, the civic body has given the green signal for 407 mobile towers to be installed in gardens across the city. mid-day has a copy of the list of towers.
The F/North Citizens Association will also shoot a letter to Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte complaining about the permission given for installing so many mobile towers at Dadar, Sion and Matunga. Nikhil Desai, member of the association has slammed the civic body for giving the go-ahead for 31 mobile towers, as the area has only 45 open spaces. "There is a need for open spaces in the city and we have managed to create that here. However, with so many mobile towers coming up, they will reduce the size of the gardens," he said.
Tower tales
A tower set up will take around 2-4 square metre space and the height will approximately be 30 metres. The Superintendent of Gardens, Vijay Hire said, "The towers will be installed on unused areas of the gardens. There will be proper fencing around the towers so there is no untoward incident." He added that if there is any violation found, then the towers will be immediately removed.
A spokesperson from RJIL said, "Our towers are erected in places approved by local authorities. The ground based masts operate on state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries, eliminating the need for space and fuel-guzzling diesel generators. They are environment-friendly. They mix well with the city infrastructure and can be used for community services such as street lighting."
