Citing wrong messages on social media, Jio puts cell towers proposal in Gir sanctuary on hold

In view of "wrong" messages circulating on social media that the firm wanted to establish nearly three dozen mobile towers in Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, the home of Asiatic lions, for its "commercial benefits", Reliance Jio Infocomm, commonly known as Jio, has decided to put on "hold" its proposal and wouldn't move ahead "unless confirmed" by the state forest department.

A statement released on Twitter by Director, Corporate Affairs, Reliance Industries Limited, and Rajya Sabha MP, Parimal Nathawani, stated, "...recently, it is wrongly being circulated in social media by some elements that Jio wants to establish this network for its commercial benefits and tried to create misconception against company's vision and mission. Jio wants to clarify that the said proposal was put forward only to facilitate the need of wildlife-wing of Forest Department and company has no commercial concern and benefit out of this initiation."

The statement, posted on Monday claimed,"...Jio was requested to establish its network surrounding and within Protected Area of Sasan Gir by the wildlife-wing of Gujarat Forest Department in 2020. The purpose behind the request was to find out technology based solution for wildlife management and protection, and to provide seamless connectivity to ground staff of wildlife-wing, so they can use e-tabs for real time reporting from the field, to ensure proper CCTV surveillance among other things."

According to forest officials, the proposal was discussed in the meeting of the state wildlife board earlier in December. They said that apart from 34 mobile towers in forest areas spread in three districts including Gir Somnath, Amreli and Junagadh, the habitat of more than 60 per cent of lions, the telecom giant has also proposed to set up seven towers in Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Narmada district and two in the Ratanmahal Sloth Bear Sanctuary in Dahod district in central Gujarat.

In the statement, Nathawani defended the proposal by stating that following discussion with the forest department, "Jio carried out technical feasibility survey and put forward its proposal to forest department with 'minimum infrastructure and maximum coverage' concept for clearance. During the course of discussion, we understand that state forest department has prioritised on high-tech effective and critical wildlife management of Asiatic Lion the pride of Gujarat, which is not possible without end-to-end seamless connectivity."

"I can't say whether the proposal is good or bad. It has to be decided by the policymakers. All I can say is that connectivity is needed," a top forest official told DH on the condition of anonymity. When asked about the impact of electromagnetic radiation on wildlife, another senior officer said, "it is a contentious issue. There are advisory issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) from time to time flagging the negative impact of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the mobile phone towers."

An online signature campaign against the proposed cell phone towers has claimed that it will "disturb the sanctuary". Gir National Park and WildLife Sanctuary has 674 lions as per the forest department's latest counting done in 2020.

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