Cell towers: HC questions govt on steps
NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Friday asked the Centre and the Delhi government what steps are being taken to reduce radiation levels emitted from mobile phone towers so that they meet international standards.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher asked the department of telecom, MTNL and the Delhi government to revert to the court, expressing concern that the inter-ministerial committee report on the hazards posed by cellphone radiation is yet to be implemented. Issuing notice to all the authorities, HC asked them to explore the petitioner's demand if mobile phones can carry a warning displaying how much radiation is emitted from each handset.
HC was hearing a plea filed by a widow and her granddaughter seeking Rs 1 crore each as compensation, blaming their deteriorating health on cellphone towers installed on the roof of their house in Lajpat Nagar.
Appearing for Shanti Syal, advocate Richa Kapoor, sought removal of base trans-receiver station (BTS) installed since 2002 at Syal's residence. Syal claims she suffers from cancer while her 15-year-old granddaughter has renal failure due to continuous exposure to high-frequency radiation emanating from the BTS. HC on Friday asked the government and MTNL to answer if they can remove the tower from her house.
Syal also alleged MTNL didn't inform her about the ill-effects of radiation on human health when it installed the station and the Nigam has been ignoring her requests since two years to get the tower removed. She informed HC that she was diagnosed with cancer in May and her granddaughter was told that she was suffering from total renal failure.
Citing a WHO study that says radiation from mobile towers is possibly carcinogenic as it directly affects human body cells, Syal in her plea urged HC to direct the department of telecom to make public a report prepared in 2010 by an IIT engineer on mobile tower radiation. Lamenting the
lack of specific rules to regulate the installation of these towers, the petitioner also sought a direction to DoT and the Delhi government to implement the report.
lack of specific rules to regulate the installation of these towers, the petitioner also sought a direction to DoT and the Delhi government to implement the report.
Syal is the second person in less than a week to approach HC and demand compensation for death/deteriorating health allegedly owing to mobile towers. Earlier this week, a bench had issued a notice to DoT on a plea by an east Delhi resident who sought a ban on installation of mobile phone towers near residential areas.
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