Petition against erecting a mobile phone tower in residential area

DINDIGUL

A section of residents of Fathima Nagar and Yousufiya Nagar on Batlagundu Road near Dindigul petitioned the Collector against setting up a mobile phone tower in their area during the weekly grievances redressal meet held at the Collectorate near here on Monday.

A. Mohammed Zubaiar, a resident of Fathima Nagar in Pallapatti panchayat on Batlagundu road said setting up a mobile phone tower in an empty plot amidst a residential area is not very safe. “There are over 800 families residing in a 300 metre radius of where a private telecom company is planning to set a mobile phone tower. We fear that the tower would cause health complications,” he added.

Further, he said that the residents were initially told there was a temple, house, meeting hall etc coming up at various stages of construction and which turned out to be false.

Another petitioner-resident Riyaz Sheik Dawood said that when they demanded to see an official order regarding setting up a mobile phone tower, the owner of the plot said that ‘he did not possess one’.

Their petition alleged that the radiation from the tower would prove to be hazardous for children, elderly and pregnant women who fall under the vulnerable category.

Hence, they demanded the authorities to intervene and stop the construction, for which the Collector assured to look into the issue.