Team Herald
VASCO: Citing the threat of security breach to a defence establishment as well as the airport, Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida raised serious concerns over the installation of a 4G tower at Shantinagar in Vasco and demanded its immediate removal.
Addressing media persons, Almeida said, “The 4G tower at Shantinagar is in violation as the tower is tall and with a CCTV camera on the top. This could be a major security threat to the airport as well as defence establishments located in its vicinity,” he said.
Almeida said that highway authorities have already issued notice to Reliance Infocomm Limited for the ‘unauthorized occupation of highway land’ and that police should take immediate action. “The tower is in total violation of the law as such towers cannot come on the median of national highway and therefore the police should take immediate action,” he said.
The issue of the illegal 4G tower and pending action has been on for a week. Although NHAI Project Director C O P Furtado submitted a complaint before Vasco police requesting that a cognizable offence be registered and prompt action taken as the tower violates several sections of the National Highway Act 2002, issues over jurisdiction have delayed action.
“It is true that NHAI gave us a complaint but after going through it and studying NHAI Act, we came to know that Section 38 and 38-IV of Control of National Highway (land and traffic) Act 2002, it is NHAI that needs to take action on such illegal occupation and not police,” PI Brutano Paxito from Vasco PS told Herald.
