From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Jun 4: As part of the drive to regulate installation of telecom towers and crackdown on illegal telecom towers in urban locations all over Karnataka, the State Government has come out with a new regulatory framework and fixed one-time fee of Rs 1 lakh for new installation of a tower in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.
The government issued a gazette notification - the Karnataka Installation of new Telecommunication Infrastructure Towers Regulation Act, 2019 - on May 29, 2019, and it has given three month period for regulating all existing towers.
The failure of regulation would empower the urban local body to initiate action for demolition of tower as per the Act.
It has banned installation of towers within a distance of 50 meters from school, hospital, religious buildings and other prescribed buildings by the government, in the bed of water bodies like river or nala and in the tanks, ponds etc, 100 to 200 meters from heritage, religious and other structures.
It has not allowed in a distance of 30 meters between railway property boundary and telecommunication infrastructure property and in Forest reserved forests or forests.
Commissioners of municipal corporations, Commissioners of city municipal councils, Chief Officer of town municipal councils, town panchayats, and panchayat development officers of gram panchayats falling in urban development areas are competent authorities to grant permission for installation of new telecom towers.
The Act said that Telecommunication Infrastructure Tower (TIT) should include ground-based tower, roof top tower, roof top poles, cell phone tower, antenna fixtures, fabricated antenna, tower to install the telephone lines, transmission towers, cell on wheels, in-building solutions and micro sites.
It has not included the antennas installed for domestic purpose such as TV antennas or Dish antennas, Urban Development Minister U T Khader said.
As telecom towers are governed by radio frequency system, the Act called for possible avoidance of residential areas. In residential areas, towers should be located in open spaces or community buildings in the locality.
It said preference would be given to the location of tower in commercial areas or other public places. Roof top of residential buildings would permitted to establish towers subject to the structural safety authority from a registered structural engineer.
A total of 15 documents are required for seeking permission to install towers. The documents are - location plan, site plan, structural stability certificate, copy of sanctioned plan of the building occupancy certificate, ownership document, lease agreement deed, drawing of tower with complete details including the specifications of foundation and design parameters, height of the tower, NoC issued by the Karnataka State Fire Services Department, copy of certificate issued by Automative Research Association of India, copy of Standing Advisory Committee on radio frequency allocations, and acknowledgement receipt issued by TERM Cell of DoT.