Thursday, September 19, 2013
Monday, September 16, 2013
Cell towers:I-T panel drafting report
The report, once formulated and tabled in Parliament, will make recommendations to the current guidelines of the union Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for the installation of mobile towers in the country. The guidelines also set norms for radiation emitted from mobile tower sites, and prescribes distance parameters between antennae and residential buildings.
Pinning their hopes on the report and demanding reduced permissible limits for radiations, city activists made a representation to the committee members about two weeks ago.
The committee, which is chaired by MP Inderjit Singh Rao, has taken it upon itself to prepare a report on ‘Norms for setting up telecom towers, their harmful effects and the setting up of security standards in the expansion of telecom facilities’ in February. It invited suggestions from the public and called upon experts, professionals and representatives of organisations to present suggestions.
“We received a considerable number of ideas from people. The committee members are in the process of examining these and the report is in the drafting stage. Although there is no time-frame, the report could be presented to the house by either this or the next session of Parliament,” said Dr Sagarika Dash, deputy secretary of the committee. The findings and recommendations made in the report will be of an advisory in nature. Activists have said the maximum radio frequency limit in the existing guidelines should be brought down from the current 20 watts per antenna to 2 watts per site.
“There is no significant impact on radiation even after the DoT reduced electro magnetic frequency limits to 450milliwatts per sq m as only 5% of tower sites were found to be operating above the mark,” said Prakash Munshi, member of Indians for Safe Environment.
Removal notice sent to illegal mobile tower
After 4 years, BMC issues notice to the owner of the building
MUMBAI: The civic body has issued a notice to the owner of a building in Vile Parle where a mobile tower was installed four years ago. Residents of Hina Kunj building claim there has been a rise in cancer cases after the tower came up on the Reliance Energy Collection Centre in the vicinity. whose clinic is located in Hina Kunj, on condition of anonymity.
VIDYA SUBRAMANIAN/HT The mobile tower on Reliance centre, close to Hina Kunj building.
BMC’S PROPOSED POLICY
HEALTH RISKS
A civic official from the building and factory department of the
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s K-West ward office, said, “Taking
note of the complaints from residents, we have issued a notice to the
owner of the building. We have given him 15 days to either remove the
tower or furnish documents establishing its legality.”
Four from Vile Parle bldg with cancer,brain tumour blame it on cell tower
4 from Vile Parle building with cancer, brain tumor blame it on cell tower
MUMBAI: Four residents of a building in Vile Parle
(W) have been diagnosed with cancer and brain tumor, which residents
blame on a cell phone tower installed nearby in 2008. Experts said it
was no coincidence that those residents of HinaKunj at
Church Road are battling with serious ailments and undergoing
chemotherapy sessions daily though operators insisted that there was no
conclusive evidence to link the two.
For Aditya and Ankita Shah (names changed), who had exchanged wedding vows in February, it was a mighty blow in early May, when he was diagnosed with stage IV brain tumor. A doctor by profession, Aditya practices in a clinic on the building's ground floor.
For Aditya and Ankita Shah (names changed), who had exchanged wedding vows in February, it was a mighty blow in early May, when he was diagnosed with stage IV brain tumor. A doctor by profession, Aditya practices in a clinic on the building's ground floor.
Padmaben Shah (83), a second floor resident, was also diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer
in May. On the first floor, Jayashreeben Dave (74) was detected with
cancer of the colon in June 2011. But the first case was of Hansa Shah
(58), another ground floor resident, who was detected with ovarian cancer in 2009, soon after the tower was installed.
The building's residents on Monday blamed the presence of the tower, facing Hina Kunj, but officials of the operator refused to comment.
"It all started with ear pain and in a matter of no time, an MRI test and biopsy indicated brain tumor. It was devastating. I found that there were three others in the building suffering from cancer. That's when I realized that it could be due to exposure to electromagnetic radiation from the nearby cell phone tower," said Ankita. Aditya underwent surgery in May and has six months of chemotherapy sessions remaining.
The tower is also a few yards away from St Xavier's High School and an orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity. Repeated requests from the residents, school and orphanage since 2008 fell on deaf ears.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) draft guidelines specify that all residing below the terrace of the buildings having a cell tower must give consent.
The building owner's nod, a no-objection certificate from the cooperative society and consent of 70% occupants are also needed. Only two towers are permitted on a building or a wing.
The mobile service provider has to give an undertaking that there is no building as tall as the lowest antenna right in front of the tower. For two antennae, the other buildings must be 35m away, for four 45m away and so on.
The civic K (W) ward office issued a notice last Saturday to the operator under Section 152 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, to remove the unauthorized tower within 15 days. The notice stated that BMC would remove it after 15 days and prosecute Reliance.
The civic body acted after corporator Ameet Satam wrote to it to take immediate action against the cell tower operator for exposing local residents to health hazards.
Dr Girish Kumar of IIT Bombay said, "It depends on proximity to a tower, as well as the number of towers. It also depends on power transmitted by each antenna, the number of antennae and radiation pattern. Maximum radiation is in the front direction of the building. That is when the entire zone is converted into an open microwave oven."
Industry sources said radiation norms approved by the government are almost 90% lower than internationally adopted norms and almost all operators follow them.
They said the Kerala high court had stated that scientists and researchers were yet to arrive at a conclusion if radiation had an impact on the human body, and till then no one could oppose the towers set up as per the govern-ment's norms.
(Inputs from Chittaranjan Tembhekar)
The building's residents on Monday blamed the presence of the tower, facing Hina Kunj, but officials of the operator refused to comment.
"It all started with ear pain and in a matter of no time, an MRI test and biopsy indicated brain tumor. It was devastating. I found that there were three others in the building suffering from cancer. That's when I realized that it could be due to exposure to electromagnetic radiation from the nearby cell phone tower," said Ankita. Aditya underwent surgery in May and has six months of chemotherapy sessions remaining.
The tower is also a few yards away from St Xavier's High School and an orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity. Repeated requests from the residents, school and orphanage since 2008 fell on deaf ears.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) draft guidelines specify that all residing below the terrace of the buildings having a cell tower must give consent.
The building owner's nod, a no-objection certificate from the cooperative society and consent of 70% occupants are also needed. Only two towers are permitted on a building or a wing.
The mobile service provider has to give an undertaking that there is no building as tall as the lowest antenna right in front of the tower. For two antennae, the other buildings must be 35m away, for four 45m away and so on.
The civic K (W) ward office issued a notice last Saturday to the operator under Section 152 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966, to remove the unauthorized tower within 15 days. The notice stated that BMC would remove it after 15 days and prosecute Reliance.
The civic body acted after corporator Ameet Satam wrote to it to take immediate action against the cell tower operator for exposing local residents to health hazards.
Dr Girish Kumar of IIT Bombay said, "It depends on proximity to a tower, as well as the number of towers. It also depends on power transmitted by each antenna, the number of antennae and radiation pattern. Maximum radiation is in the front direction of the building. That is when the entire zone is converted into an open microwave oven."
Industry sources said radiation norms approved by the government are almost 90% lower than internationally adopted norms and almost all operators follow them.
They said the Kerala high court had stated that scientists and researchers were yet to arrive at a conclusion if radiation had an impact on the human body, and till then no one could oppose the towers set up as per the govern-ment's norms.
(Inputs from Chittaranjan Tembhekar)
BMC mulls new policy
Cell towers: BMC mulls new policy
MUMBAI: After finalising the draft policy on the installation of mobile
towers, the civic body is now considering making modifications to it
based on the revised guidelines issued by the Union department of
telecommunications (DoT) on August 1.
A major addition to the DoT guidelines was making it mandatory for service providers to get an NOC from the building’s owner or the housing society every time the mobile tower’s contract is renewed. While the BMC’s draft policy mandates companies getting consent from occupants of the topmost floors of buildings, the provision of obtaining an NOC from 70% of residents is a onetime condition.
A major addition to the DoT guidelines was making it mandatory for service providers to get an NOC from the building’s owner or the housing society every time the mobile tower’s contract is renewed. While the BMC’s draft policy mandates companies getting consent from occupants of the topmost floors of buildings, the provision of obtaining an NOC from 70% of residents is a onetime condition.
“As the guidelines have been revised, we are studying how the new
provisions can be incorporated into the policy,” said municipal
commissioner Sitaram Kunte. The policy is expected to be finalised in
fifteen days, after which it will be put before the civic standing
committee and the civic general body for approval.
Experts said civic authorities should adopt a city-centric view while finalising the policy “The DoT guidelines are made with respect to the country. The BMC should consider city-specific aspects such as its population density and practices before installing towers,” said Jitendra Gupta, an activist.
Experts said civic authorities should adopt a city-centric view while finalising the policy “The DoT guidelines are made with respect to the country. The BMC should consider city-specific aspects such as its population density and practices before installing towers,” said Jitendra Gupta, an activist.
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