Mobile tower study
Friday, Sep 20, 2013, 11:58 IST | Agency: DNA
Bhanu Pratap Panwar
Resident participation to ensure transparent and non-biased
study.
It is a known fact that the electromagnetic radiation
emanating from mobile towers adversely affects the human body. The Department
of Tele-communication (DoT) had formed a committee to study the harmful effects
of such radiation on the residents of the city as well as the environment.
Milind Deora, MP of South Mumbai, said, “The committee was formed to carry out
a study across India. It will study the impact of the radiation caused by
mobile towers in the surrounding area and the environment.” The committee was
formed after the DoT had issued guidelines to all state governments to
formulate a policy for setting up mobile towers.
The DoT’s revised norms stated that state governments and
local civic bodies had to seek a no-objection certificate from housing
societies and majority of the occupants, where the towers would be put up, but
unfortunately these norms were ignored.
The head of the committee is Dr NK Ganguly, former director
general of Indian Council of Medical
Research. Along with him were representatives of Department of
Tele-communication, Indian Institute of Technology (Chennai), Indian Institute
of Toxicology Research (Lucknow), Ministry of Environment and Forests, and
Department of Science and Technology. The committee also included residents of
various residents’ associations in the city, so that there is no bias and the
study is transparent. Earlier, Deora had said that the BMC had not done its job
properly as far as the preparation of the mobile tower policy is
concerned.
Mobile tower radiation is of two types: thermal and
non-thermal. In a thermal effect heat is produced. The best example of thermal
effect is the use of mobile phones. Non-thermal effects, as the name suggests
does not involve heat, but are more harmful than thermal effects. Prolonged
exposure to mobile radiation can lead to headaches, sleep disturbance, lack of
concentration, and can also cause brain cancer. More serious health issues are
infertility, miscarriage, and heart problems.
If a person is living near a mobile tower and wants to avoid
the harmful effects of the radiation, the person can ask the operators to reduce
the power of transmission or change the angle of the antenna so that no house
falls under the main beam of the antenna. Where the level of radiation is high,
people can go in for radiation shielding solutions such as, window shielding
films, shielding curtains, and radiation shielding units.
In 2011, the number of illegal towers in the city was 1,800
and now the figure is almost double. It is high time the government comes up
with a strong mobile tower policy and also creates awareness amongst the residents.
No comments:
Post a Comment