Question : Mobile Towers in LWE Affected States

(a) whether the Government has launched a scheme to install mobile towers at 2199 locations identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs in nine States in the country which are affected by the Left Wing Extremism (LWE);

(b) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise including the number of such towers that have been installed so far in the said areas;

(c) the cost of the project along with the funds earmarked/released/utilized for the installation of such towers since the inception of the scheme;

(d) whether there has been delay in installation of such towers in the said areas and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and

(e) the remedial measures taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS &
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) Yes, Madam. The Government has launched a scheme to install mobile towers at 2199 locations as identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 10 States, which are affected by the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) areas.

(b) State-wise details of towers that have been installed so far in the said areas are placed at Annexure-I.

(c) The Government approved the project at implementation cost of Rs 3567.58 Crore (Capital Expenditure and Operational expenditure). The total of Rs. 1450.56 Crore fund has been utilized for the installation of such towers so far.

(d) There has been delays in installation of towers in the said areas because of delay in allotment/ finalization of land by the respective State Governments and due to security reasons.

(e) Regular monitoring of the project is being done in the Department. Due to this, Installation of towers at 2186 locations out of proposed total 2199 locations has been completed.

Annexure-I


The state-wise breakup of tower locations is as below:
<pre>
S. No. State No. of Total Locations identified by MHA No of towers installed
1. Andhra Pradesh 54 54
2. Bihar 184 184
3. Chhattisgarh 497 490
4. Jharkhand 782 782
5. Maharashtra 60 60
6. Madhya Pradesh 22 22
7. Odisha 253 248
8. Telangana 173 172
9. Uttar Pradesh 78 78
10. West Bengal 96 96
Total 2,199 2186
<pre>

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