Hundreds of residents of DLF City Phase-1 protested against the move to set up a private mobile phone tower in the green belt (part of the Aravallis) along the Gurgaon-Delhi road.
The residents spotted the digging work and informed the police and the forest department officials who rushed to the spot and, upon enquiry, found that no permission letter was there with the contractor who was executing the work. The work was then stopped with immediate effect.
“A pit has already been dug to erect another tower in the area. The towers are generally erected at night so that there is nobody to protest. Unfortunately, the authorities are mute spectators and we (residents) suffer,” said GB Singh, a resident.
When residents took their complaint to the police, they were told the tower has been erected with the permission from Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda).
A team of workers with earth movers were digging huge pits and uprooting several trees in the green belt on the pretext of putting up the mobile phone tower, the residents said.
The residents said when they asked the contractor to show the permission letters from the Huda and the forest department, the workers picked a fight with them.
Residents fear that radiation from the mobile tower will cause health issues and have been running from pillar to post to ensure that no mobile tower is installed near their area. “We have been protesting against the tower installation but the police did not listen to us. The private mobile company staff came and dug the green belt and tried to complete the installation work in a hurry, but we spotted them,” said Dhruv Bansal, a resident.
“A pit has already been dug to erect another tower in the area,” said Siddharth Raj, a resident of GAIL, a neighbouring residential society.
Officials of the MCG and the forest department were also called to the spot and the junior engineer clearly denied giving permission for any tower installation.
Rama Rani Rathee, councillor of the area, said, “This is not the first incident of its kind, I agitated earlier against a petrol pump that was being built on the green belt. Ultimately, I had to get stay from the high court and the National Green Tribunal on that matter.”
Inspector Amit Kumar, SHO DLF City phase 1 police station, said, “We have received a complaint from the residents and have informed the Huda and the forest department. We will take prompt action on the complaint.”
