Karnataka government bans mobile towers within 50 metres of schools, hospitals

Bengaluru, Jun 4: In a first-of-its-kind move, Karnataka has brought the Telecommunication Infrastructure Towers Regulations 2019 into effect to prevent mushrooming of mobile towers.

Announcing this, urban development minister UT Khader said the government had been considering the move for long. “The regulations came into effect as of May 29,” he said.

Under the new rules, all mobile towers besides schools, religious buildings, hospitalsand some other buildings will have to be moved by at least 50 metres. Those near rivers will have to be shifted 6 metres from the boundary, near lakes/tanks which are more than 10 hectares in size by 5 metres, near lakes/tanks less than 10 hectares by 3 metres and by 5 metres from the defined boundaries of canals and storm water drains over 10 metres in width.

Mobile towers in residential areas will now require a minimum buffer zone of 3 metre all around and can come up only on vacant land. If there is no empty land, towers will have to be shifted on rooftops of buildings and must be positioned only at a distance of 3 metres from the edges.

The regulations also seek a protective wall around towers erected on the ground, at a distance of 1 metre from the tower and 1.2 metres tall.

“All new mobile towers will have to follow these regulations while existing ones will have to be shifted if any violation is found. Telecom companies will get three months to move towers, failing which action will be initiated against them,” said the minister.

The regulations also prescribe a fee and stringent licensing procedures which need to be followed while erecting towers. While new towers will require telecom companies to pay a one-time fee of Rs one lakh to the BBMP (for each tower), for corporations other than BBMP the fee is Rs 50,000.

Online building approvals in ULBs

Henceforth, the government will issue building approvals online in all urban local bodies (ULBs). Khader said the government will launch automated building plan approvals for all ULBs, including 10 municipal corporations, apart from the BBMP.

For Bengaluru, the municipal corporation had launched an automated building plan approval system (ABPS) but it’s under scrutiny due to technical problems.

Khader said automatic approval will be provided for all buildings, including layouts in ULBs, from June 11 when chief minister HD Kumaraswamy will launch the system.

“For 30x40 and 30x50 sites, people can self-certify their building plans and submit documents online. This will help them get instant approval,” said Khader.