BEST committee claims proposed rent for 4G towers is below market rates

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltdrsquos plan to erect Ground Based Masts GBMs at BEST bus depots for its 4G broadband services has run into rough waters with some BEST committee members claiming that the rent that the company has proposed to pay is less than what it should beReliancersquos masts require around 9 sq metres of space and authorities claim that the existing telecom towers with antennas need at least 3050 sq metresldquoThe company wants to erect 14 GBMs at 13 bus depots across Mumbai for which we will be charging rentrdquo said a BEST official Sources said that as per the current proposal the undertaking stands to earn an annual average rent of Rs 57442 per siteThe depots are spread across Mumbai and include Backbay depot Colaba Worli Bandra Marol Majas Pratiksha Nagar and Kurla with Pratiksha Nagar set to have two GBMs see boxThe contract is said to be for five years and the masts require around 9 sq metres of space and authorities claim that the existing telecom towers with antennas which are erected on terraces of buildings need at least 3050 sq metresldquoWe will be earning about Rs 804 lakh from all these sites together This is a big sumrdquo said a BEST official Not everyone however agrees with this assessmentldquoThe company is paying far less than the existing ready reckoner rates for the propertiesrdquo said K Hombalkar BEST Committee member from MNS The committee members feel that the market prices are much higher than those quoted by the companyldquoThese GBMs will be erected on the ground floor away from the area where buses ply The problem is they will be close to our offices situated there Also the permission should not exceed five years so that the committee can then decide on renewal or terminationrdquo said Sunil Ganacharya BEST Committee member from Shiv SenaHealth hazardThe existing telecom towers installed by various companies have led to questions about health hazards People have also complained that buildings tremble slightly due to the movement of the telecom towers installed on the terraceThe other sideldquoReliance Jio had requested for 2 sq metres of land for the GBM towers at 24 bus depots in Mumbai The proposed rates are higher than ready reckoner rates Please note that Jio is one of the most transformational initiatives of RelianceBy building the largest broadband network that the world has ever seen Reliance Jio will be one of the largest jobcreating and wealthcreating business initiatives in Indiardquo said an official from the company adding further ldquothere is no health hazard whatsoever due to radiation from mobile towersThe disinformation campaign is a myth and an orchestration by interested partiesrdquo The official pointed out that in a recent Special Civil application filed regarding the installation of 4G towers on September 5 Gujarat HC directed the state and the Centre to create public awareness that there is no reason to fear the emission of radioactive waves from mobile towersThe HC had also observed that the use of even AM Radio FM Radio etc is more harmful to human beings compared to Base Transceiver Stations and mobile towers