The Union Environment Ministry is treading cautiously as it attempts to strike a balance between technological progress and the preservation of natural habitats. It has relaxed regulations for the installation of mobile towers in forest-protected areas, including national parks and wildlife habitats across the country. However, the core and critical wildlife areas of tiger homes are excluded.
This move aims to support the government’s ambitious project, spearheading the extension of seamless 4G internet connectivity to 24,680 uncovered villages in the country. The project entails the construction of at least 16,464 telecom towers.
However, the approval for such construction in protected areas comes with conditions. Protected land can be allocated to a “user agency” only if no private or alternative revenue land is available.
In its recently issued guidelines, the Ministry also stipulates that the user agency must obtain an undertaking from the district magistrate confirming the unavailability of alternative land. A user agency refers to the entity proposing and overseeing the construction and operation of the mobile tower. This entity could be a mobile network operator, government agency, or another party seeking permission for installation within a protected area.
Notably, no proposal for the installation of mobile towers in the core/critical tiger habitat, as notified under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, will be allowed.
The guidelines were formulated in response to a significant number of proposals from various States and Union Territories seeking approval from the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife under the Ministry. These proposals aimed at the installation of mobile towers and laying of Optical Fiber Cables inside national parks, sanctuaries, tiger reserves, and tiger corridors.
The construction of each mobile tower is estimated to require 0.02 hectares of land, equivalent to 200 square metres. To address potential concerns, the guidelines emphasise avoiding overlapping high radiation fields. New towers are cautioned against installation within a one-kilometer radius of existing towers. If new towers are deemed necessary, they must be erected with meticulous care and precautions to avoid obstructing bird flight paths and prevent an increase in combined radiations from all towers in the area, as per the guidelines.
Additionally, to ensure that mobile tower connectivity in protected areas is not misused by individuals violating forest and wildlife laws, such as poaching, the guidelines require the sharing of all call data records of suspected persons with relevant authorities.
The guidelines, signed by Rakesh Kumar Jagenia, Deputy Inspector General of Forests (WL) at the Ministry, also state that ‘the location and frequencies of cell phone towers and other towers emitting EMR should be made available in the public domain. Location-wise GIS mapping of all cell phone towers should be maintained, which would, among other things, help monitor the population of birds and bees around the mobile towers and in and around protected areas.’
According to the central project envisioning the setup of towers in around 30,000 villages at a cost of Rs 30,620.49 crore, BSNL is expected to provide services by installing 4G mobile towers and upgrading its existing 2G/3G services. This is particularly in areas where no other telecom service provider (TSP) is offering 4G services, and BSNL will manage these services throughout the entire period of the agreement.
