KHYBER: The tehsil municipal administration has issued notices to all the mobile companies, which have installed towers in the limits of the Landi Kotal Bazaar, to obtain a fresh no-objection certificate (NOC) by depositing the prescribed fee.

TMA officials said the mobile towers were installed prior to the former tribal areas’ merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, permitted by the then political administration.

However, they said now as the country’s laws were extended to the merged districts, it was mandatory for all the mobile companies to acquire a fresh NOC after depositing the prescribed fee. “The amount collected thus would be used for carrying out beatification of Landi Kotal Bazaar,” they said.

The TMA officials said similar notices would also be issued to the mobile companies for their transmission towers installed in the residential areas.

They said all the mobile companies were required by law to not infringe upon state property for installing a tower, the tower be installed at least 200 meters from school and hospital buildings, and the company should furnish concrete guarantee to compensate for any damage caused due to falling of the tower or its related structure.

Meanwhile, the police arrested six persons involved in theft of nut-bolts and iron bars from the railway track in different localities of Jamrud.

The action was taken upon the registration of a case by the local railway staff. The stolen items were also recovered from the arrested men.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2023