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Mar 13 2026 - Time 11.45Hrs
Nagpur: The issue of large-scale irregularities in the installation of mobile towers in the city was raised in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly by Nagpur Central MLA Pravin Datke, who demanded strict action against unauthorized towers and called for a comprehensive survey across the city.
Raising a calling attention motion in the House, Datke alleged that thousands of mobile towers have been erected in areas under the jurisdiction of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) without obtaining the mandatory permissions.
Responding to the issue, Maharashtra Minister Uday Samant acknowledged that unauthorized towers exist in the city and assured the House that the State Government would formulate a comprehensive policy regarding mobile tower installations within the next 90 days.
Sharp rise in number of towers
Highlighting the scale of the issue, Datke informed the House that Nagpur had only 175 mobile towers in 2014, but the number has now crossed 1,000, reflecting an alarming rise in recent years.
According to the data cited by him, only about 10% of the towers in the city are authorised, while nearly 90% have been installed without proper permissions.
Datke further claimed that Nagpur currently has around 2,000 mobile towers, but only 254 applications for permission have been submitted to the NMC, and merely 100 towers have received final approval. This means that more than 1,200 towers are operating without official sanction, he said.
Concerns over safety and planning
Citing information obtained through the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Datke revealed that 42 large mobile towers have been installed along the Inner Ring Road, with some even located on road dividers, raising serious concerns over planning and safety.
He also pointed out that towers installed on residential buildings range between 3 metres and 24 metres in height, while ground-based towers often exceed 40 metres. Datke warned that erecting such structures without properly checking the structural stability of buildings could pose serious risks to residents.
Revenue loss and allegations of irregularities
Datke alleged that the presence of hundreds of unauthorized towers has resulted in the loss of crores of rupees in revenue to the civic body in the form of fees and taxes.
He further questioned why strict action is taken against ordinary citizens for recovery of property tax and other dues, while similar seriousness is not shown in collecting taxes and penalties from large telecom companies. Datke suggested that such inaction indicates possible irregularities and demanded accountability.
Rules for installation of mobile towers
Datke reminded the House that certain mandatory norms must be followed before installing mobile towers, including:
- Structural stability certificate, Fire NOC and building permission
- No Objection Certificate (NOC) from at least 70% of residents if the tower is installed on a residential building
- Restriction on installation within 100 metres of schools, colleges and hospitals
However, he alleged that these regulations are being widely ignored.
Key questions raised
During his intervention, Datke demanded that the government clarify whether it would:
- Conduct a zone-wise survey of all mobile towers in Nagpur
- Remove towers installed on unauthorised buildings
- Make the official list of towers and permissions publicly available on the NMC portal
- Impose and recover penalties from companies that installed towers illegally
- Formulate a clear state policy for installation of mobile towers
- Fix responsibility on officials who allegedly allowed illegal towers and recover losses from them
Government response
Minister Samant admitted that unauthorized towers exist in the city and said that the State Government is currently implementing the central government’s guidelines on telecom infrastructure.
He further assured the Assembly that, as demanded by Datke, the Maharashtra Government would finalise a clear state-level policy regarding mobile tower installations within 90 days.
The issue has once again brought attention to the rapid and largely unregulated expansion of telecom infrastructure in Nagpur and the need for stricter monitoring and enforcement by civic authorities.
