Over 350 hazardous mobile towers in Pune

Monday, Jul 8, 2013, 3:49 IST | Place: Pune | Agency: DNA

Expressing concern over the increasing number of mobile towers in the city, various civic activists claimed that many towers are being erected flouting government norms. 

With over 350 plus illegal mobile towers existing in the city, the hazards due to the emission of electromagnetic radiation looms large. Though guidelines like maintaining a distance of 100 meters between two towers and the building have the provision of lightening arrester exist, very few towers seem to follow them.

The issue of floating numbers provided by Pune Municiapal Corporation(PMC) on illegal towers had created uproar in last week’s PMC general body meeting. The figures of existing towers in the city ranged between 1,040 towers to 6,000. With environmentalists and scientists sounding an alert over the ill-effects of radiations emerging from these towers, the team met on Sunday to discuss the possible solutions.

Addressing the event, Grahak Hitwardhini president Sudhakar Velankar said, “It is a common observation that there has been a notable reduction in the birds in residential areas. Mobile towers have become an unavoidable part of the our lives. So it must be ensured that these towers are erected after following the prescribed government norms. It has now become a necessity to include towers under the infrastructure category.”

Also present at the event was structural engineer Deepak Nalavde, who stressed on the structural stability that a building holding the mobile tower should abide by. Nalavde said, “It is extremely necessary to check the strength of the building that holds mobile towers. 

There is always the fear of the lateral load that the building carries, because earthquake or strong winds pose a threat to these 20 feet high towers.”

“Mobile phones use ultra high frequency range and according to the International Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, the limit of emission of non ionizing radiation is 2 MW. But it is observed that this limit is often surpassed,” prominent radiologist Dr. Sanjay Paney, who too was present, said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/pune/1858329/report-over-350-hazardous-mobile-towers-in-pune