MAPUSA
Barely a month after locals opposed the setting up of a mobile tower near a school in Anjuna, the residents of Sirsaim are up in arms against the installation of a tower near a primary school in the village.
A private telecom company’s attempt to set up a mobile phone tower in a populated area kicked up a huge row on Tuesday morning.
A large number of locals assembled at the construction site and stopped the contractor from going ahead with the work.
The agitated locals warned the contractor not to go forward with the work and urged him to produce all the permissions issued to him.
Sirsaim Sarpanch, Gokuldas Kandolkar and other panchayat members were also present with people of the village who opposed the tower.
A local Umakant Kudnekar informed that in the past the local devasthan had issued permission to install a mobile phone tower in the compound but later withdrew permission due to objection of the residents.
“Now, the government has issued permission to them to erect the tower next to the government primary school without informing the local residents. We do not want the tower near the school. We have no objection if they install the tower 500 metres away in the open space,” Kudnekar said.
The residents are apprehensive about the harmful effects of radiation the tower would allegedly cause them.
According to Sirsain Sarpanch, Gokuldas Kandolkar the villagers had signed a representation stating that they did not want a tower in the village.
“I issued a stop notice to the contractor so that the on gong work is stopped immediately. I will stand with the people and the village. We will also send our representation to the Zilla Panchayat and the local MLA against the tower,” Kandolkar said.
The contractor informed that the PWD had issued permission to the company to erect the tower and as per a government notification PWD is the sole authority to issue such permissions.
“In 2020 the State government had issued a notification adopting a single-window policy where the PWD was given the sole authority to issue permission for mobile towers. There is no role for the local panchayat or any other body,” the contractor informed.
He said now since the locals have opposed the setting up of the tower, he will inform the PWD about the situation on the ground.
A private telecom company’s attempt to set up a mobile phone tower in a populated area kicked up a huge row on Tuesday morning.
A large number of locals assembled at the construction site and stopped the contractor from going ahead with the work.
The agitated locals warned the contractor not to go forward with the work and urged him to produce all the permissions issued to him.
Sirsaim Sarpanch, Gokuldas Kandolkar and other panchayat members were also present with people of the village who opposed the tower.
A local Umakant Kudnekar informed that in the past the local devasthan had issued permission to install a mobile phone tower in the compound but later withdrew permission due to objection of the residents.
“Now, the government has issued permission to them to erect the tower next to the government primary school without informing the local residents. We do not want the tower near the school. We have no objection if they install the tower 500 metres away in the open space,” Kudnekar said.
The residents are apprehensive about the harmful effects of radiation the tower would allegedly cause them.
According to Sirsain Sarpanch, Gokuldas Kandolkar the villagers had signed a representation stating that they did not want a tower in the village.
“I issued a stop notice to the contractor so that the on gong work is stopped immediately. I will stand with the people and the village. We will also send our representation to the Zilla Panchayat and the local MLA against the tower,” Kandolkar said.
The contractor informed that the PWD had issued permission to the company to erect the tower and as per a government notification PWD is the sole authority to issue such permissions.
“In 2020 the State government had issued a notification adopting a single-window policy where the PWD was given the sole authority to issue permission for mobile towers. There is no role for the local panchayat or any other body,” the contractor informed.
He said now since the locals have opposed the setting up of the tower, he will inform the PWD about the situation on the ground.
