Nepal’s telecom service providers have set up more than 550 mobile towers in capital Kathmandu Valley and 3,000 altogether in the country in a bid to expand services.

But how safe are these base transcriber stations (BTS) from natural disasters like earthquakes?

According to Wednesday’s The Kathmandu Post daily, an assessment conducted on the Earthquake Vulnerability of Mobile Towers and Associated Structures by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has showed that most of the towers are not safe. Out of 13 mobile towers set up on buildings, nine were found to be unsafe under earthquake loads and the buildings themselves were unsafe even without the load of the towers.

According to experts, most of the BTS erected on the roofs of tall buildings in cities like Kathmandu are disasters waiting to happen.

The trend of erecting antenna towers on high-rise buildings, even though they are not earthquake resistant, is increasing as it is cheaper than buying land and building a BTS.

The assessment of mobile towers and associated buildings was done based on the Seismic Vulnerability Evaluation Guidelines for Public and Private Buildings by the Earthquake Risk Reduction and Recovery Preparedness Program (ERRRPP) of the UNDP.

Suresh Prakash Acharya, joint secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works and national project director of the program, said that as the Kathmandu Valley was situated in a highly earthquake-prone zone, the towers could be very hazardous.

“These types of towers must be relocated or rehabilitated to make them earthquake resistant, and the tower erection guidelines being prepared by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority must incorporate the recommendations put forward by the ERRRPP,” he said.