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BMC will target cell towers in mangroves, after persistent efforts by New Link Road Forum
Viju B TNN
Times of India 30th Sept 2010 page 8

Mumbai: The civic authorities are planning to crack down on illegal mobile towers that have come up in mangroves in CRZ 1. The CRZ rules forbid any form of construction on mangroves as they come under the category of private forest land as per the Bombay high court order of 2006.

“There are three mobile towers owned by different cellular operators which have been installed on mangroves and Ganpat Patil Nagar slums near Gorai creek .The BMC has not given any permission for installing these towers here,’’ a senior civic official said.
Civic officials last week removed around 35 galas which came up on mangroves. The Gorai creek has been facing massive encroachments in the last 15 years.
Officials said that some of the mobile towers are situated in the middle of slum pockets and they will need special equipment to remove the towers. “It is shocking that they have been installed just 20 feet above the ground. The radiation emitted by these towers are hazardous for the residents,” the official said.
The IC Colony New Link Road Residents’ forum, which has been battling to save mangroves here, had already lodged a complaint with civic authorities on the issue.
“We also asked the BMC under the RTI Act if they were given any permission to erect these towers. But BMC officials said that no such permission was granted to the mobile companies,” Harish Pandey, member of NLR Forum said.

The mobile towers at New Link Road in Borivli