Mohali: Take district telecom committee’s nod for tower installation as NOC, officials told

Mohali, January 3

In line with the Punjab Government’s efforts to minimise formalities for the installation of telecom towers, the administration has ordered PSPCL officials to accept the approval by the district-level telecom committee as a no-objection certificate (NOC) from now on.

In a case from Zirakpur in which PSPCL officials had sought a separate NOC from the firm before releasing a commercial power connection for the installation of a tower, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Aashika Jain clarified that there will be no need for a separate NOC from the municipal council in case the district-level telecom committee has already given its nod.

The committee considers only those cases in which all requisite permissions have been procured from the departments concerned. Officials said there is no need for a separate NOC in such cases.

Besides, the committee has decided to deal strictly with the towers installed without its permission. The panel has turned down a Sunny Enclave resident’s application for the legalisation of a tower installed by him. The administration has ordered GMADA to immediately remove a tower installed in Sector 78 without permission from a competent authority. The committee also gave its nod to action against a mobile/BTS tower erected on the rooftop of a private residential building in Mohali’s Phase 7. The DC has directed the local area authorities, including GMADA, to take prompt action against the installation of towers without permission. She has stressed the need for the installation of towers in remote rural areas to ensure better communication services there.

The DC noted that people from the villages in New Chandigarh without proper mobile phone coverage had once sought the installation of six mobile towers in their areas. Four towers have already been set up, and two more will be installed soon. The district-level telecom committee has given its nod to the installation of 78 towers so far.