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BMC allows 4G towers to puncture Mumbai's green lungs

Mumbaikars are known to vehemently protect their parks, gardens and recreation grounds. These are the only places where we can walk without coming in the way of heavy traffic and breathe in fresh air in this fast-growing concrete jungle. But the city municipality is planning to snatch even the few remaining open spaces away from us.

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Mumbaikars are known to vehemently protect their parks, gardens and recreation grounds. These are the only places where we can walk without coming in the way of heavy traffic and breathe in fresh air in this fast-growing concrete jungle. But the city municipality is planning to snatch even the few remaining open spaces away from us.

What has the civic body planned?
The BMC had allowed Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJI), a mobile phone company, to install 4G communication equipment on the poles of 215 street lights along the city's main roads. Now, it has given the same company the green signal to instal ground-based transceiver stations on high mast at 1,106 sites — all open and green spaces — triggering fears that these mobile towers will create electromagnetic fields (EMFs) emitting harmful radiation.

What does BMC's plan entail?
Parks, playgrounds, open areas, roads, civic grounds, gardens, parking areas, civic pumping stations etc., have now been thrown open for the telecom company to instal 4G base stations or ground-based transceiver stations.

This will pose a major health hazard for citizens, especially children, pregnant women and senior citizens (who already have low immunity) visiting the open spaces.

Have citizens planned anything to counter this?
Citizen groups across the city are gearing up to protest against the civic body's "draconian" decision.

How did the proposal come to be passed?
Civic sources said there was already a debate amongst civic officials over the controversial issue. The municipal commissioner didn't raise an objection despite being given an internal note by the development and planning department of the BMC, which said there was "strong resistance" on part of citizens and corporators during the meeting of citizen groups with the authorities.

However, the state urban development department (UDD) issued a final proposal, which was approved by the improvements committee and then the standing committee, with the final go-ahead coming during the general body meeting in the BMC.

What were the people's representatives — corporators — doing?
"Due to public objection to installation of towers atop buildings, BMC has given the company open spaces. There was nothing that anybody could do. The proposal was sent by UDD and if the committees hadn't approved it, it was anyway deemed to be passed 45 days after it was tabled. The corporators, however, should have put their objection on record as that would've shown their intention, that they really are against it, but they didn't do that.

Unfortunately, chiefs of all political parties had signalled the leaders in BMC to give safe passage to the proposal," said a source.

MNS leader in the BMC Sandeep Deshpande said he and his party had opposed the proposal in the standing committee vociferously. "I demanded to know that will the company share the revenue it earns by extending the 4G facility to other companies. Civic authorities had no answer for it."

What are NGOs/activists saying?
"If the 4G towers are installed here (recreational grounds/playgrounds many of which are linked to schools and hospitals), wouldn't that mean the authorities are playing with the health of citizens?" questioned Anjali Pandit, associate director of NAGAR, an NGO working to improve civic facilities.

Besides NAGAR, another NGO working for better governance — AGNI — too has raised the issue.

An activist, Prakash Munshi, said, "We have been approaching the central and state governments to discuss the mobile tower policy. We have also sought explanation from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) about the norms framed for permissible radiation levels. But the authorities have been dilly-dallying... We will continue our fight till the government brings down the permissible limit."

In light of this development, NAGAR has appealed to citizens for support through a petition. The petition says, "Public open spaces in Greater Mumbai are a dismal 1.24sqm per person, against UDPFI guidelines of 10/12sqm per person and the National Building Code, which mandates 3sqm per person. These installations will further cut down availability of these spaces for citizens. There is an apprehension that other operators will seek similar permissions, leading to proliferation of cell towers and resulting in loss of the few 'breathing spaces' left in Greater Mumbai."

What does the BMC chief have to say?
Municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte told dna that permissions had been given as per requisite approvals from the improvements committee and the general body meeting. "We have given approval to the proposal after the state government finalised the guidelines and sent it to us. We have obtained the go-ahead from political parties. All necessary changes and amendments in the Development Control Rules have been made by the state government to facilitate the installations," said Kunte.

When asked about the danger to people's health, Kunte said there was a special cell of the DoT which deals with this. "Those who want to take up the issue can approach the cell, as DoT has framed guidelines on this."

And what about Reliance?
Reliance Jio Infocomm did not respond to dna's emailed queries on the health hazard fears expressed by citizens, and why there's no option with the company other than installing 4G towers in open spaces.

The irony
The likely adverse effects of EMF radiation are recognised in the UDD rules themselves at point 8(f) — signboard and warning signs ("Danger", "RF Radiation", "Restricted Area", "Don't Enter", etc.) shall be provided at transceiver station/base station antenna sites such that they are clearly visible and identifiable.

The necessity of such signages points to the inadvisability of having these installations in public spaces meant specifically for citizens' recreational use. What such signages will in fact do is deter people from using the public space, negating its very purpose.

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