Panel to check if phone towers have impact on birds & bees

Headed by Asad Rahmani, director, Bombay Natural History Society, the panel will assess the likely impact of the mushrooming of cellphone towers on animals, birds and insects. It will also examine if these towers are influencing the birds' migratory path in any way. The panel will formulate guidelines on large scale installation of mobile towers, an official said. It will submit the report within six months.

The panel comes within six months of Punjab University researchers reporting how honey bees are disappearing from their hives and also producing less honey possibly because of an over-exposure to electromagnetic radiation radiation from cell phones and towers.

The radiation comes not only from the phones but also from millions of towers.  Zoologists at Punjab University in Chandigarh picked cell phones as the main culprit behind the vanishing act. They showed that the tolerance level of bees for electromagnetic radiation has crossed the limit. The study was in line with previous studies which showed bees producing less honey and having a high mortality if they live near high tension electricity lines.