Narmada: DM order bans unauthorised people from climbing towers for protests

In a notification issued Monday, Additional District Magistrate CK Ungad stated that the notification volition widen to the full territory of Narmada though the petition was made by the Narmada District constabulary to notify mandatory provisions successful the country astir the Statue of Unity successful Ekta Nagar.

The notification states, “As per the petition exertion of the Narmada District Superintendent of Police… respective tourer spots, including Statue of Unity (SoU) and Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam are located successful Ekta Nagar successful Garudeshwar taluka… On respective instances, successful bid to pressurise the medication to springiness successful to their demands, locals ascent up telecom towers”. “Therefore, successful bid that specified incidents are not repeated, the (police) petition has been received to contented a notification making it mandatory to person fencing and different arrangements successful spot for towers of assorted companies… truthful prohibit unauthorised persons from entering and climbing the towers. Therefore, it appears to beryllium indispensable to contented this notification,” said the order.

The notification makes it mandatory for utilities and companies mounting up towers to “ensure fencing and deploy information guards portion besides installing a fastener strategy to guarantee that unauthorised persons bash not ascent up the towers” and besides request to enactment up boards connected the towers stating that “prohibitory orders are successful spot against unauthorised persons intending to ascent the towers.” The notification states that those violating the orders volition beryllium punished nether Section 223 (disobeying orders successful place) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Earlier instances

In December, The Indian Express had reported that astatine slightest 35 transmission towers successful the periphery of SoU had been enactment nether “round-the-clock security” portion patrolling, particularly successful the wee hours, has been accrued to forestall instances of radical protesting against the medication and creating a ruckus.

The determination had travel a fewer days aft a antheral and a pistillate from the Narmada project-affected villages climbed up a telecom operation successful Kevadia colony connected December 6, seeking that their demands from the 2016 protests beryllium met, leaving the territory medication connected toes.

Both had agreed to descend from the telecom operation aft astir 5 hours erstwhile the Sardar Sarovar Punarvasahat Agency (SSPA) officials assured them that their demands would beryllium forwarded to the government, sending retired an urgent letter.

In a abstracted case, different section nonmigratory had climbed up a operation successful protestation against his dismissal from a authorities posting. A akin lawsuit was reported erstwhile a section nonmigratory with a backstage grouse against idiosyncratic had climbed up a tower.