The towering threat

Almost every person uses a cell phone nowadays. So the number of mobile towers in the City are innumerable. From every nook and cranny, one can spot these towers. In fact, if you look out of your window, chances are you will spot at least one such tower if not two or three.

Though these help boost the signal and are necessary, there is always the debate of whether mobile waves are harmful or not.

According to M Lakshminarayana, Commissioner, BBMP, “The only provision from our end is a free levy on mobile towers. Our main guideline is that these towers should erected on commercial buildings and not residential ones.”

The BESCOM authorities didn’t have a lot to say except to guide Metrolife to someone else. On being asked about the conditions to erect these towers, an employee with the BESCOM has little to say — “It all depends on how big they are, the size, the kilowatts and even the number of consumers.” 

Dr Shantakumar Muruda, a family physician, thinks it is important that the government authorities regulate the emission from these towers. “These towers emit radio frequency waves, which are a form of electromagnetic waves. Even the radios and tube lights come under this category but the waves emitted by them are of low frequency,” he says.

A frequency up to 400 hertz is harmless, he informs. “However, when two or three towers are erected in the same place, the emission could be close to 2000 hertz. This could affect the people surrounding it and lead to fertility problems, headache and even depression.

In fact, your body temperature could rise by two degrees if you are too close to it.” He adds, “We need to have rules in place when it comes to emission, just like the West. Over there, the frequency has to be of a permissible limit failing which, there is a fine.”

And it’s not just one’s health that’s getting affected. Sharath Babu, CEO of Purna Organics that promotes terrace farming and other initiatives to go green, worries about the number of sparrows that has drastically come down.

“In the last 30 years, the number has come down to almost zero. You just can’t see sparrows anywhere. They are going away from the City,” he says. According to him, India is a dumping ground for ‘junk technology’. “I have observed that in the West, especially in the UK, a lot of care is taken to follow rules. But that’s not the case in India,” he notes. “The emission from these could affect our health, especially the brain.” His advice to all is to at least keep their cell phones away from their bodies. 

The people involved in the business, however, assure that all regulations are followed. Brijesh DK, who owns a construction firm that constructs these towers, feels that communication is an important tool in today’s times. “Yes health is the most important of course,” he adds. At present, his company is completing a project for a telecom major.

“We had to erect 3000 towers for the 4G wireless project, out of which 1300 are completed. We are also handling 1200 mobiles towers for other telecom majors.” But he adds that as per the Supreme Court, these towers aren’t harmful to human beings. “One of the rules is an ‘environment clearance certificate’ from the SC,” he sums up.