Aurangabad: There is a mobile tower in every nook and corner of the city but only about 10% are legal, thus causing huge losses to the civic body that has been complaining about severe cash crunch.The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in its latest survey found that only 60 mobile towers are authorised while 426 have been illegally erected.A section of corporators has demanded stern action against people behind the illegal towers.Local corporator and former Shiv Sena group leader in AMC Rajendra Janjal said the illegal towers were not only causing a loss of revenue to the civic body but were also posing a threat to the public safety.“There exist distinct norms for the raising of mobile towers which consider the safety aspect. Among other laid down rules, the structural audit of the building where the tower is slated to come up is mandatory and obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the locals is also required. The illegal towers blatantly violate all these norms,” he said.The local civic body, on an average, is owed tax of around Rs1.30 lakh per annum from legal towers, while almost double this tax regime is made applicable for illegal towers as punitive action.As per the latest survey, the AMC collectively is owed dues worth Rs25.65 crore from the owners of mobile towers. This includes the recovery of Rs23.70 crore from 426 illegal towers and Rs1.95 crore from the legal towers.The illegal mobile towers have pending dues worth Rs14.76 crore as well as the current year’s tax recovery of Rs8.94 crore. The owners of the legal mobile towers owe pending dues worth Rs1.17 crore and also owe the recovery of Rs78.21 lakh towards the current financial year, shows the official record.AMC authorities said that the tax recovery towards mobile tower owners is one of the main focus areas during the ongoing tax recovery drive in the city.Civic activist Rajendra Datey-Patil said that the elements associated with illegal mobile towers must be dealt with in a stern manner. “The AMC is owed dues worth over Rs25 crore, which is a substantial amount. While carrying out the tax recovery, authorities should also ensure all necessary compliance in order to the ensure safety of these devices. All these actions must be carried out before the current fiscal ends,” he said.When contacted, a senior civic body official said that the necessary action against illegal mobile towers will be initiated soon. “The latest survey was carried out with the sole intension of taking action against the illegal mobile towers. We will take the necessary action considering public safety and tax recovery,” he said.

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