Mobile towers are being erected on houses and other buildings all over the city and MCC is permitting them without caring for the complaints of neighbours. What can the neighbours do about them? Here is the current legal position.
There are two Karnataka government circulars on the basis of which MCC is permitting mobile towers on buildings in Mysore. The first circular (No. UDD 17 Aa Pra Sa 2001) issued on 12-11-2001, instructs local bodies to permit mobile towers on terraces of residential and commercial buildings subject to the following conditions:
1. The company has the requisite licence from the Government of India,
2. Generators will not be installed on rooftops,
3. Zonal regulations are not violated,
4. The company furnishes a certificate from a registered engineer regarding the stability of the structure.
5. The company furnishes a certificate from a competent authority that the noise produced by the generator is within permissible limits,
6. Since establishment of a mobile tower is a commercial activity, the company pays the local body fees prescribed for commercial use.
This circular is self-contradictory. On the one hand, it says that establishment of a mobile tower is a commercial activity and that zonal regulations should not be violated. On the other hand, it instructs the local bodies to permit mobile towers on residential buildings. Establishing commercial mobile towers on residential buildings is a clear violation of zonal regulations.
The government issued another circular NaAI 55 GEL 2005 on 2-3-2005 in which it relaxed the above conditions. In this circular, it instructed local bodies to permit mobile towers and their equipment anywhere subject to the following revised conditions:
1. Public safety is the responsibility of the company,
2. Any taxes levied by the local bodies must be paid,
3. Other lawful rules are obeyed.
This is the circular under which MCC is giving permission to mobile towers on all types of buildings all over the city.
The second circular is also self-contradictory since it says that all other lawful rules should be obeyed and still instructs local bodies to permit towers on residential and public buildings as well as on private lands. But zonal regulations made under Town and Country Planning Act, 1961 does not allow mobile towers which are commercial buildings on residential or CA (public buildings) sites.
Mobile towers established on residential or CA sites can be challenged in courts because they violate zonal regulations. It is learnt that some challenges are already before the courts.
Here is one recent legal development. The revised circular, unlike the first one, does not explicitly prohibit the installation of generators on rooftops. So MCC has been allowing such installations. A resident of Brindavan has been fighting the installation of a generator on a rooftop next to his house, using the Right to Information Act. His argument was that the revised circular only allows the tower and its equipment to be installed. Generator is not a part of the tower equipment and so the condition banning generators on rooftops contained in the first circular is not overturned by the second circular. When his complaint against MCC came up before the State Information Commission, the Commission agreed with his contention and ordered (Case Nos. KIC 11545 cw 11373 and 11374 PTN 2009 decided finally on 3-9-10) ordered MCC Commissioner to ensure that orders prohibiting the installation of generators on rooftops is implemented. The generator has now been removed.
So anyone bothered by generators installed on neighbouring rooftops can approach MCC and get them removed quoting this decision. If it does not work, he should file a police complaint or a complaint with the State Human Rights Commission.
Dr. T.N. Manjunath, Mysore Grahakara Parishat