GHMC’s cell tower plans draw flak

Hyderabad: Even as the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials are contemplating to use free space available in public parks and government buildings for installation of cell phone towers, many are vehemently opposing the move.

Mayor Bonthu Rammohan has recently announced that following the decreased amount of revenues in the form of taxes, the GHMC may think of using open spaces and public parks for installing cell towers.

This has been opposed by many, who said it going against the State government’s own diktat released as the order.

The State government has issued GO 96 in 2015 that prevents civic body from installing cell phone towers in parks, playgrounds, public open spaces and other such places. However, Mayor suggested the GHMC officials to look for the options wherein mobile transmission companies can be allowed to install their towers on government buildings and open spaces so that the municipal body could collect the rent directly.

There is free space at 1,300 community halls, 600 parks and at least 3,000 cell towers can be installed, according to the Mayor. There are about 2,500 cell towers in the city, but taxes are being collected only from 500 cell towers, informed Mayor. He said 30 per cent of the income by the cell towers was given to the municipal body in Vijayawada.

CPM GHMC coordinator M Srinivas said there were about 6,000 cell phone towers and the Mayor did not have the correct information. He further informed that Indus Towers Limited had installed 3,000 towers and Reliance installed about 2,000. He said most of the agencies were not paying the Rs 1 lakh permit fee for each tower besides the property owners avoiding cell phone tower tax. If the fee is collected as per the norms, the net income for the GHMC would be around Rs 100 crore, said Srinivas.

By: Mohammed Younus