Mobile tower in school:SDMC to decide on revocation of consent

The National Green Tribunal has said that South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) is free to decide on revocation of the consent given by a school in Dwarka for installation of mobile phone towers on its premises.
A bench headed by Justice Dalip Singh disposed of the application by MR Vivekananda Model School and said the parties aggrieved with the school's decision would be free to take legal recourse.
"We are of the opinion that the SDMC would be free to take a decision on the revocation of the consent given by the applicant with regard to installation of mobile tower by Respondent Nos 1, 2 and 3 (Vodafone, Bharti and Reliance) in accordance with law," the tribunal said.

"In case, any of the parties are aggrieved by the decision so taken by the SDMC, they would be free to take recourse to any remedy that may be available to them in accordance with law," it said.
The school had moved the tribunal in the wake of its de-recognition by the Director of Education, Delhi government, cancellation of its lease by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and complaints from the Parent-Teachers' Association regarding the harmful effects of the cellular phone towers.
According to its petition, the school was de-recognised and its lease cancelled after it entered into an agreement with the said telecom companies to install mobile phone towers on the roof of its building - something that is prohibited under the 2010, Municipal Corporation of Delhi guidelines.

The school had said that it had allowed the installation of the towers prior to the drawing up of the guidelines and, when informed about the norms, had contacted the telecom companies seeking their removal.

In its plea, the school had alleged that the telecom companies did not pay heed to repeated communications, seeking removal of the mobile towers.
In March, 2013, South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) had ordered sealing of the towers.
The towers, however, were soon cleared vide an April, 2013, order by a Delhi court following a plea by the telecom companies, the petition added.
Thereafter, DDA issued a show-cause notice to the school to either remove the towers or bear the expenses for the authority to dismantle the same, the petition said.