Bhagsunag residents protest installation of telecom tower

Dharamsala, February 11

Residents of the Bhagsunag area in Dharamsala held a protest when a private telecom company tried to install a tower on the rooftop of a private hotel here.

Vikas Nehria, a resident of Bhagsunag, said a private telecom company had been trying to install a tower in their area for the past

some time, but the residents had made known their opposition to the move.

Now, a person who has brought up a hotel in the upper Bhagsu area has allowed the company to put up a tower on the rooftop of his building, he said.

As per the building bylaws, permission has to be sought from the local municipal corporation for installing a tower on a rooftop. The telecom company also has to take permission from the local populace.

In this case, no permission was sought from the local population of the Dharamsala MC. “We shall not allow the installation of a telecom tower in our area,” he said.

Nisha Sangita, another resident, said Bhagsunag was a densely populated area and installing a telecom tower on the rooftop of a hotel there would not only threaten the safety of adjoining buildings, but also pose health risk to the residents.

Dharamsala MC Commissioner Anurag Chander Sharma said the mandate for the installation of telecom towers was given by the district administration and not the MC. — TNS