The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday issued warrant against Secretary, Ministry of Communications & IT for his repeated non-appearance during hearing in the case, which related to the health hazard likely to be caused by the construction of cell phone communication towers without following mandatory provisions of law and necessary permission from competent authority.
The five-judge bench headed by Chairperson Swatanter Kumar passed the order against the Secretary MF Farooqui. It states, “We issue bailable warrant against secretary, Ministry of Communications & IT in the sum of Rs10,000 to the satisfaction of the arresting officer.”
The NGT was hearing the case in the wake of the plea of Delhi resident Arvind Gupta who alleged inaction on the Government’s part in strictly implementing guidelines regarding installation of mobile towers in the country.
Gupta alleged that “norms are flouted brazenly by all companies involved with installation of mobile towers” and the Department of Telecommunications has not been implementing the guideline while allowing setting up of the towers. He has also alleged that radiations emitted by towers not only adversely affect flora and fauna, but can also cause cancer in human beings.
Earlier, NGT had issued notice to the Ministry of Communications and IT, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Ministry of Health, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and telecom companies — Bharti Infratel ltd, Airtel, Idea, Vodaphone, Tata, Reliance and Bharat Sanchar Nigam ltd (BSNl), to explain their position in this regard.