It was neither a devastating earthquake nor a synchronized terrorist attack. Yet the mobile phone network in the city of Noida, a prosperous neighborhood of 700,000 inhabitants nearby New Delhi, was collapsed last Saturday. Thanks to the “dutiful” local authorities shutting down around 25% of the base stations, which were claimed to be breaking planning permits.
“Electricity supply to the towers has been cut and the back-up generators have also been sealed. Only 125 cellular service providers had submitted applications requesting an extension a few months ago. These would be spared for the moment,” boasted Sandeep Chandra, senior project engineer, Noida Authority.
The authorities claim that the phone companies were given notice of the clampdown if they didn’t seek the necessary authorisation for the towers to be erected. Depending on the reports between 125 and 190 towers have been shut-down out of a total tally of 400 and 572 towers in the city. Hindustan Times reports.
2 Comments
Divakar
“Cost-of-doing-business” has obviously been ignored by the cell operators. When appropriate deposits are made the power to the towers will be restored.