GHMC asks cellular firms to redesign towers

Hyderabad: GHMC Commissioner Dr. B. Janardhan Reddy on Thursday directed the Cellular Tower Agencies (CTA) to take immediate steps to ensure people’s by redesigning cell phone towers that could withstand heavy winds.

The representatives of Indus Towers Ltd., Reliance Jio Infocomm, Viom Networks Ltd., Tower Vision India, ATC Telecom Tower, GTL Infrastructure, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular participated in the meeting held at the GHMC Headquarters on Thursday. The Cellular Tower Agencies (CTA) were informed about the situation in Hyderabad which witnessed heavy wind and rains. The CTA has been asked to take immediate precautionary measures.

The CTA has been asked to designing the new cell towers which could withstand wind force of 150 to 200 KMPH. The agencies will conduct an inspection of all the existing cell towers and take measures for repairs/replacement needed within one week. The structural stability of buildings of existing towers also needs to be verified thoroughly.

The CTA has been directed to submit certificate after due inspection of all the existing towers duly certifying that the building on which tower exists and the tower are structurally safe and shall submit report to GHMC on daily basis for next seven days.

The CTA were also asked to depute Emergency Response Teams in their agencies which will act in quick time in case of emergency situations. They should also share the contact details of the Emergency Response Teams with GHMC, in order to pass important messages during emergencies.

The GHMC Commissioner threatened to register criminal cases against the cellular tower agencies if any untoward incident occurs due to their negligence. (INN)