Even as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) undertook a renewed drive to seal illegal mobile phone towers on Wednesday, the cellular operators have approached the Delhi high court seeking a stay on sealing. The operators contended that the increase in the one-time fee for installation from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakhs was unjustified.
According to the MCD, it sealed at least 24 mobile phone towers in central and south zones, leading to some difficulty in connectivity for the cellphone users in the area.
Targeting the illegal towers erected on residential premises and shopping complexes, the MCD sealed at least three towers in C.R. Park and Govindpuri areas falling in the central zone. In the south zone, the MCD sealed eight towers in Mehrauli.
One tower located on Mount Carmel School in the posh Anand Niketan Area was also sealed. Three towers were sealed in Shahpur Jat and one in Satya Niketan locality in south zone.
In one case at Mehrauli, the owner himself got the tower sealed.
The MCD also maintained that more towers could have been sealed had adequate police force been available.
However, there were no reports of any resistance against the sealing squads.
Earlier in the afternoon, Delhi mayor Prithviraj Sawhney called a meeting of all the stakeholders, including the cellular phone operators. But the deadlock continued with the MCD maintaining that nothing could be done at this stage.
By evening, the Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) moved the Delhi high court seeking a stay on sealing of towers.
Talking to this newspaper, COAI director general Rajan Mathews said that apart from seeking stay, the association has also argued that the increase in one-time fees to Rs 5 lakhs was unjustified.
“It appears that it is just another way to extract money from cellular operators,” said Mr Mathews.