Deccan
Herald: Bengaluru: Monday, 26 January 2015.
Government
ready with draft byelaw for towers, optical fibre cables.
After
repeated protests by the public against the telecom towers coming up in their
neighbourhood without seeking their consent, the State government has finally
prepared a draft byelaw as part of its telecom policy.
In response
to a two-year-old RTI application, BBMP came out with information that the
government had prepared a draft byelaw for telecom towers, optical fibre cables
and installation of other basic infrastructure.
However, even
after two years, BBMP continues to state that it does not have information on
the exact number of telecom towers in its jurisdiction, although it is the
local governing body of the core area of the haphazardly growing City. The
reason cited by the BBMP was that the telecom firms were not required to seek
its permission to instal telecom towers even on residential buildings.
The RTI
application was filed on January 24, 2013, seeking information about the number
of telecom towers in the City, mechanism to check radiation, restrictions to
put up towers and the agency to monitor them.
The RTIs were
filed with different departments such as office of the Chief Secretary of
Karnataka, Principal Secretary in the Urban Development Department (UDD), Principal
Secretary in the Environment and Forests Department and the BBMP. While the UDD
gave some information, the BBMP gave vague information, prompting the applicant
to approach the Karnataka Information Commission.
The 43-page
draft policy proposes the timeline for the Corporation commissioners to give
all the clearances (within 68 days) if all the conditions are duly met.
There are
some strict guidelines for laying the Optical Fibre Cables (OFCs) and erecting
telecom towers. The Corporations are permitted to provide ducts and lay the
OFCs with sufficient bandwidth capacity/redundancy.
Licence for
laying the OFCs shall not be transferable. All unauthorised OFCs should be
removed once this proposal is accepted and becomes a rule.
The rule also
intends to discourage laying overhead cables. It strictly prohibits use of
electricity poles or towers of power utilities to lay overhead communication
cables.
The maximum
height of the ground-based mast/rooftop mast shall not exceed 30 metres from
the adjoining ground level and the distance between two masts shall not be less
than 150 metres in line of sight to the extent feasible.
The height of
the mobile/ communication towers from the adjoining ground level shall not
exceed 75 metres. “Erection of the mobile/communication towers shall be avoided
in narrow lane, which is below five metres in width,” says the draft rule.
Radiation
level must be checked at regular intervals and conformance report should be
submitted to the competent authority. Non-compliance would attract penalties.