GSPCB terms Reliance WiFi towers illegal, issues notices to Govt Depts
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 22 September 2015 20:23 IST
Goa State Pollution Control Board has confirmed that all the 4G WiFi towers erected by Reliance all across the state are illegal as the firm has not taken consent and clearance for air pollution, in violation of the rules laid down.
“We will stop the WiFi service provided by the Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd if no consent is taken from us”, Levinson Martins, member secretary of the GSPCB , told goanews.com today.
The GSPCB has now issued show cause notices to three government departments as well as all the service providers of mobile and WiFi services, stating that no WiFi tower or antenna would be allowed without their consent.
Letters have been sent to the departments of PWD and Electricity as well as Directorate of Panchayats.
PWD has approved 45 locations along the National Highways passing through Goa, covering 29 village panchayats.
Similarly, the Directorate of Panchayats has granted NOC to build 4G WiFi towers of Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd in 120 locations in 61 village panchayats on the internal roads.
The exact number of locations in municipal areas is not known, except 10 in the Margao city.
The electricity department has provided power connections to these towers.
Martins also confirmed that the GSPCB had issued a show cause notice to Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd on 28 August, asking whether they have erected 4G WiFi towers without taking their consent.
While 15-day notice period has already expired, the Reliance has not bothered to reply to the GSPCB notice.
“Now, it’s time to act”, said Martins.
He also confirmed that the GSPCB had received complaints from former Fatorda MLA Damu Naik, United Goans Forums as well as from Margao police station in this regard.
While it is not known how many WiFi towers have been made operational, MLAs belonging to different parties and even independents have announced free WiFi service to the public, provided by Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd.
The GPSCB has now confirmed that all these services are illegal.
4g wifi is a new technology where 4g networks and wifi networks will work seamlessly with each other. Like, if you have a call on 4g, and switch to a wifi network, you will be able to continue the call on wifi. The same goes for 4G data. When downloading a file on 4g, and it switches to wifi, your download will not be interrupted.
This is not a scam. The GSPCB has allowed reliance Jio to build 4g towers across goa, but now Jio is bringing up 4g wifi towers, and GSPCB wants more money for setting up of 4G wifi towers.
These towers don't emit any harmful radiation. These people just want to believe that towers give harmful rays. The frequency used in these towers is the same as the ones used in your bluetooth devices, wifi devices, etc.
The microwave oven you have in your kitchen provides about 10 times the radiation of these towers.