in view of the mushrooming of telecom towers all over the State capital city and other urban localities, the State Government has framed new rules for telecom service providers.
In a notification issued on Monday, the Housing and Urban Development Department has made it clear that there would be no telecom towers near hospitals and educational institutions.
“No telecom towers can be installed within a 300-metre radius of any heritage site identified by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the State Archaeological Survey authorities. Besides, the telecom providers will not be allowed to instal towers within a 100-metre radius of the State Secretariat, Raj Bhavan, headquarters of the Commissionerate police, educational institutions and hospitals,” the notification said.
Besides, the department also clamped restrictions on the construction of these towers near the airport zone, natural drainage sources, railway tracks and National Highways.
The notification, however, clarified that if there is an indispensable need to installtowers in habitation zones, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) would have to restrict the height of the tower within 35-55 metres before giving permission to the concerned telecom service providers.
The new rules have made it mandatory for telecom providers to obtain no-objection certificates (NOCs) from the concerned land or house owner, the ASI or the State Archaeology Department, airport authorities, Odisha State Pollution Control Board, Forest and Environment and Fire Service Departments before applying for installation of towers.
For redress of public grievances, State and district-level telecom committees would be formed in which an official of the Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring Cell, Director, Municipal Administration, BMC Commissioner or Executive Officer, representatives of telecom service provider companies and eminent persons of the concerned localities would be the
members.