“We are not against better mobile connectivity but not at the cost of our open spaces. “Meher Rafat, trustee, NAGAR
Mumbai : A group of activists, led by Congress corporator Asif Zakaria, met municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte on Wednesday to protest against the erection of several 4G mobile towers inside public gardens in Bandra.
After Kunte expressed his helplessness in the matter, they want to intensify their protest and stall such towers since they pose a threat to the health of locals as well as encroach upon the few open spaces in the city.
Last year, the BMC’s Improvements committee as well as general body gave permission to a telecom company to erect nearly 3,000 Telecommunication Cell Sites (TCS) as well as base stations in the city which make up 4G cell towers.
In December 2014, the same company was granted permission to set up such 25-metre-high stations in at least 31 open spaces in the Bandra to Andheri belt.
These open spaces reportedly include parks, gardens, playgrounds, plots as well as some traffic islands.
But the issue came to fore only last week, after installation work of such a station started barely five feet away from a children’s play area in Almeida Park in Bandra (West). Residents objected to the construction, fearing for the physical safety of their children, the encroachment of their play space as well as potential health hazards of mobile tower radiation.
Following this, a group of activists from the NGOs NAGAR, Action for Good governance and Networking in India (AGNI), Bandra Bandstand Residents’ Association and others met Kunte on Wednesday.
“Kunte was certainly sympathetic to our cause but I doubt if there is anything he can do now. We are not against better mobile connectivity but not at the cost of our open spaces. Isn’t there a way of avoiding that?” asked Meher Rafat, trustee, NAGAR, who was also present for the meeting.
Shyama Kulkarni, an AGNI trustee said, “I want to know how were mobile towers given permissions in areas such as Bandra Fort which is a heritage structure? They haven’t even taken an NOC from the heritage conservation committee. Plus don’t the Coastal Regulatory Zone norms apply to these structures?”
Kulkarni believes that such towers inside public gardens will dissuade parents from sending their kids out to play.
The activists want to unite people across the city to form a network that will stall the setting up of such towers until further course of action is decided.
Besides, they will approach the UDD for the same.
Tanvi Deshpande
