Mumbai: Cell tower removed from Walkeshwar building after 3 years court battle

Yesterday brought the first night of sound sleep for the residents of tony south Mumbai building, Daseshwar Apartments. After three years of battling with mobile network companies over radiation risk, the inhabitants experienced a major win yesterday as all 17 mobile towers erected on their rooftop were pulled down.

Residents have complained of frequent headaches and sleepless nights due to the cell towers on the rooftop

As of Tuesday, only two towers were left standing atop the Walkeshwar building, with the promise of their removal within 24 hours.

No one was happier to see the cell towers go than Daseshwar apartments resident Amit Shah. It was on his penthouse's roof that the 17 towers and antennae had been erected years ago in his absence.

The mobile towers are being pulled down from the rooftop of Daseshwar apartments after a three-year battle

For the last three years, Shah and his children were haunted by sleepless nights and frequent headaches. His father - a heart patient - was advised to move out to avoid radiation from the cell towers. mid-day had earlier reported on the long battle fought by Shah and other residents to have the towers removed; they even approached the Governor over this issue.

Amit Shah, resident

Long battle
Shah had, in 2014, filed a case in the civil court against the building society for allowing the cell towers to be set up on the terrace. In October 2016, he switched off the power supply to the antennae from the building's meter room.

"After I removed the fuse for the antennas, the company (Indus Towers) sent me a notice stating that this amounted to contempt of court, but I wasn't going to switch it back on," recalled Shah.

Also read: Mumbai: Cuffe Parade building has 29 mobile towers!

Shah and Indus Towers had been at loggerheads for years with counter cases filed against each other. However, in February, both parties finally reached an agreement. "They had told us [the society] that they would pay us R9.5 lakh as structural damages sustained during installation of the towers. But they later backed out," said Shah.

He added, "They then came back on October 11, agreeing to withdraw their case remove the towers and antennae at the soonest."

Around the same time, the court also ordered that by October 30, all towers should be removed from atop Daseshwar apartments.

'It's finally over'
On Monday, representatives of the four network companies associate with Indus Towers began taking down the various antennae and towers installed at Daseshwar.

"This is a definitely a win for us after so long," rejoiced Shah.

"After three years of fighting and experiencing health problems, it's finally over. For three years, it affected our health. I would request other citizens also to not put their health at risk with these cell towers," he added.

Also read: Mumbai: Cell tower in park gets zero reception from Chikuwadi residents

During an attempt to contact Indus Towers for a comment, mid-day was redirected to three different people. Finally, this reporter was asked to contact Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

However, till the time of going to press, neither organisation had responded.

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