GMADA suffers losses due to 99 'illegal' mobile towers

An annual audit report pertaining to Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has revealed that it has suffered a loss of nearly Rs 1 crore due to installation of unauthorised mobile towers.

The annual inspection and audit report recently released by principal auditor general, Punjab, stated that telecommunication companies had "illegally" installed 99 mobile towers in SAS Nagar.

Of these, the date of installation of only 29 towers was available, which were set up between January 2002 and August 2010.

According to records, neither did operators/building owners took permission from authorities, nor GMADA issued any notice to them as required under the policy, which led to a revenue loss of Rs 1 crore, besides loss of renewal fee.

Of these towers, 12 have been erected in residential areas/plots.

According to the revised policy for granting permission for installing mobile towers by a telecom company, these structures can only be set up in areas falling under GMADA purview and can only be permitted on built-up portion of commercial, industrial and institutional sites.

A fee of Rs 1 lakh is to be paid for each tower, which will be valid for a period of one year. It can be further renewed annually on a payment of Rs 50,000.

The policy further states that in case any tower is found without valid permission, GMADA will issue a notice to the land and building owner for resumption.