Delhi municipal bodies to continue sealing drive against

All three municipal corporations in the capital have decided to continue their sealing drive against illegal mobile towers even as people grapple with the nagging problem of call drops and slow network services.
According to senior municipal officials, there are around 8,500 mobile towers under the jurisdiction of the municipal corporations, and South Corporation (SDMC) has taken maximum action against illegal towers.
As per official estimate, nearly 2,500 illegal mobile towers are functional in the city and the three civic bodies said they will continue their drive against these towers.
"We have sealed 115 mobile towers during the last one month. We have a total of 3,670 towers under our jurisdiction. And we will continue with our drive. We have removed a total of 49 towers completely since our inception in 2012," a senior SDMC official said.

Asked whether the action by the civic bodies was resulting in frequent call drops, another official said laid down rules and regulations will be enforced strictly.
East Corporation (EDMC) has sealed 36 towers in last fortnight, and 131 before that period, a senior EDMC official said.

For North Corporation (NDMC), the number is much lower, with only 20 towers having been sealed this financial year.
"A lot of the cases are in court. We are waiting to get it cleared, and then we will take the drive in a big way," an NDMC senior official said.
Call drops have become a severe problem in recent months and concerns have been raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well in this regard. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has warned telecom companies of penal action over persisting call drops menace.

According to the SDMC official, the civic body has proposed a 29-point cell tower policy, out of which two have been challenged by the telecom firms in court, including one on the hike in the licence fee.
"For giving municipal licence for installing a tower, we conduct an inspection where we see structural safety of the building, the dimensions of the tower, and if it is in vicinity to any schools and hospitals or not," he said.
These days people regularly complain, so we get to know about many such illegal structures, and our efforts is also to stop as many of them from getting installed in the first place, he added.

Warning telecom companies of penal action over the persisting call drops menace, regulator TRAI today said their performance will be reviewed after 15 days and it can "cross the bridge" if situation does not improve.
While top executives of leading operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Reliance Communications were conveyed this message in a meeting called by TRAI, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also said at an economic summit that the imposition of penalty cannot be ruled out if the companies fail to do their part to check frequent call drops.