PAINT
Saturday witnessed an interesting debate of sorts on the question of whether the Goa Telecom Policy overrides the provisions of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act on matters pertaining to the installation of mobile towers in the villages.
This question came to the fore as residents of Sao Jose de Areal hit the streets to oppose the construction of a mobile tower near the Two Cross area on Saturday morning. Sarpanch Joyce Dias rushed to the spot armed with a copy of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act to drive home the point that the Act mandates all agencies to seek panchayat permission to take up any work in the village.
On the other hand, a representative of a telecom company was present on the site, armed with a copy of the minutes of a meeting compiled by the Information Technology Department held on May 28, 2022 at the Secretariat concerning the erection of mobile towers.
The telecom company official further highlighted the point mentioned in the minutes stating that the Goa Telecom Policy makes it clear that no other permission is contemplated from the village panchayat or any other authority except PWD in the State of Goa for erecting mobile towers. “As per the minutes, we have the permission from the PWD and we do not require to take permissions from other authorities,” the official said.
Areal Sarpanch Joyce, however, has begged to differ. She pointed out that the sarpanch and the panchayat members are all guided by the provisions of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, mandating any person to seek the permission of the panchayat body.
That’s not all. She further pointed out that point No. 3 of the permission sanctioned to the telecom company clearly says that the tower should not cause any hindrance or bottleneck to the movement of pedestrians or vehicles inside the premises, adding that if any objection is received from the concerned government department, the tower should be shifted mutually or removed altogether.
“The residents are only objecting to the location of the tower. We have suggested shifting the tower to an open space, which belongs to the community body. The alternate site is also close to the existing site, but the authorities seemed hell-bent on locating the tower at the government school premises,” the sarpanch said.
The two sides had come face to face with the company seeking police protection to stop the work and the residents agitating near the site to shift the mobile tower.
Since the time the Goa Telecom Policy was unveiled in the State earlier this year, the PWD, which has been appointed as the nodal officer, has been granting permissions for the installation of mobile towers across the State, especially in government-owned property such as schools, roads and sports grounds, bringing the residents and telecom company officials face to face.
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