Mobile towers operating from schools, nursing homes despite ban

Mobile towers operating from schools, nursing homes despite banIt has been found that some mobile phone towers have been operating from the top of school buildings and nursing homes in East Delhi despite a ban imposed by the Supreme Court of India.

It was found that least seven school buildings and four nursing homes in areas under the East Delhi Municipal Corporation are housing working cellular towers. The figures were released as  part of the response to queries raised by Sanjay Kaushik, Deputy Chairman Standing Committee of the Corporation, on Thursday.

Government officials have said that there are 1,470 mobile towers in EDMC out of which about 588 are illegal and have been erected without the permission of the corporation. Under the current regulations, mobile phone firms are required to obtain the "Structural Safety No-Objection Certificate'' from the municipal corporation.

The civic body said it has sealed 27 towers and booked 351 as in some cases the towers were found to be on unauthorised buildings. The East Delhi Corporation has decided to start sealing the towers in order to control the spread the illegal towers in the area. Several people have criticized the civic agency has not taken action against illegal cell phone towers.