New Delhi: The department of telecommunications (DoT) is learnt to have sought several exemptions from the environment ministry's 4G tower related rulebook to expedite the mission to saturate coverage across remote and uncovered village areas, including in protected forest regions.ET has learnt that the environment ministry is yet to take a final view on DoT's request for relaxation in some of the six clauses outlined in its guidelines. These clauses ask for the district collector's undertaking and provision of call records of offenders of wild life laws to the environment ministry, among other requirements.The issue was taken up for consideration in the July 31 and October 9 meetings of the standing committee of the National Board of Wild Life, chaired by environment minister Bhupender Yadav.It was agreed at the last meeting that a separate special discussion will be held on the policy considerations involved. The government aims to cover all villages under the '4G Saturation Mission' by the end of 2024. DoT had written to the environment ministry on April 25, seeking exemptions from the 04.01.2024 'guidelines for submission of proposals regarding 4G connectivity for seeking recommendations of the standing committee of the National Board for Wild Life' (NBWL). The guidelines were drawn up as NBWL is currently faced with a barrage of DoT applications for use of forest land/wild life habitat to erect mobile towers and lay cables.The norms require the user agency to provide an undertaking from the district magistrate indicating non-availability of alternative land, movement plan for installation of the tower facility, undertaking to provide call records of those violating the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972, if sought by the deputy conservator of forests and higher authorities to check poaching, and the chief wild life warden's view on the impact of such a tower on wildlife. DoT, however, has written to the ministry seeking modification/relaxations in most clauses. It has said that the requirement of an undertaking from the district magistrate on unavailability of non-forest land should be done away with as it will result in "additional delay in overall clearance progress". It has proposed that such a certification from any other revenue officer - not below the post of sub-divisional magistrate - should be accepted. DoT has said it is not possible to provide call records, as the environment ministry has stipulated, since this can only be done through statutory provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, besides established protocols. DoT has said that a "standard plan" for movement of vehicles and workforce for erection of telecommunication towers be accepted instead of a new one per case, as not more than three truckloads of equipment are involved in the construction process and little to no movement or personnel deployment is required thereafter.On the ministry's insistence on solar power usage for operation of mobile towers, DoT has said this will be the primary source, except in places where solar energy or normal electricity connectivity is not feasible, and such sites are less than 1% of the total.On the requirement of the chief wild life warden's comment on the impact of towers on wild life habitat, DoT has said that most telecom towers are within village areas and occupy no more than 0.02 hectares."These are unmanned sites and thus movement at sites is minimal. Thus, it will not impact wild life management. Thus this requirement may be done away with for these projects," DoT said.NBWL had observed in its July 31 meeting: "While providing connectivity to the people residing within or near the limits of these wild life-rich areas should be taken on priority, the protection and conservation of wild life habitats should also not get affected within such instalments." Further, erection of these 40m-high towers often requires building approach roads, laying of optical fibre cables, supply of power gensets.
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