Adv. R. P. Rathod. states that Cell Towers rentals are good
source of Income for a society and
its members,
as it can helps the society to reduce or Zero the Maintenance Collections
from the members of the society,
but he warns that the society
should be careful as health
risk are often associated with the radiations
caused by these Cell Towers.
He further states that, if your Co-operative Housing Society
(CHS) wants to set up a Mobile tower
on the terrace of the building
or elsewhere, it will have to convey a General Body meeting in
which more than 70% of the members
should agree to the said proposal.
He further elucidates that as per the
guidelines issued by the Minister of
State for Environment, Shri. Sachin Ahir, 70% members of the society
must resolve in favour of setting up of mobile towers
on the building of the society. Further the guidelines
state that no towers to be set up
near Schools and Hospitals.
These guidelines were announced
by the Minister of State for Environment,
Sachin Ahir, in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.
Proactive
Mumbaikars have been ever since demanding that the government
frame proper rules for setting up mobile towers
in the City, looking into the
serious health risks associated
with the electromagnetic
radiation (EMR) emitted by these towers. The Minister has also
admitted that out of 3,429 towers across the State, only 1,500 are Legal.
Many Societies across the city have
already sanctioned & allowed
the Cell towers in their building,
with a view that the income generated from this would help them lower the maintenance
collection from their members. Some members of
these societies after reading and hearing
a lot about the hazards caused by the electromagnetic
radiation emitted by these towers are now against
these towers. Adv. R. P. Rathod
states that though these societies
want to remove the existing Cell towers from their
society building, they have fewer chances
to succeed and everything would depend upon the terms and
conditions of the Agreement, which they have
entered into with these Cell phone companies.
He further states that in Mumbai &
Thane all the residents of the city are surrounded from all sides
by these Cell towers & even
if your society do not allow setting-up of the Cell
towers, your neighboring building will
& you have no option to oppose the
same. Adv. R. P. Rathod
further adds that we all Mumbaikars
live in the EMR Matrix & the government
is the only mechanism which can help regulate setting-up of these Cell towers
& electromagnetic radiations
emitted by these towers.
Cell tower
numbers have grown exponentially in recent
years, as service providers race with each others to improve
their coverage. He further says
that with the massive proliferation of mobile phone
users in the City, the service
providers are putting up transmitters even on dilapidated buildings
and thus posing danger to the residents.
Adv. R. P. Rathod explains some of the Adverse
Effects caused on the humans and the environment
by these Cell towers.
He says that the remarkable
growth of this new technology is
receiving public concerns about various
ill effects of RF Radiation
Exposure, dangers perceived from falling of these towers
during earthquake with small little seismographic
disturbances. The adverse effects of Microwave Radiations were
recognized by the erstwhile USSR and, in fact, the
same was used as a weapon to create mental
disturbances, instability and high anxiety.
The same was further utilized by
illuminating US Embassy in Moscow
with high power Microwave Radiations.
He adds
that slowly and slowly when the adverse health effects
started coming to the notice of medical and radiological
scientists
certain measures were taken in advanced countries to formulate
certain guidelines and to regulate
exposure
limits within safe levels. The United States FCC had
guidelines FCC 56 revised by FCC65.
Canadian Government incorporated
Safety Code No. 6, European
Countries developed ICNIRP and IEEE
Guidelines. But, unfortunately, even with
such a faster growth, RF Illuminating Towers in Indian cities
could not attract attention of the Government of India.
The relationship
between biological effects and Electromagnetic
Exposure has been widely recognized from Epidemiological
and experimental
studies. The growing use of mobile communication
GSM 900/1800,
Cordless
Telephones etc. in the last decade has introduced concerns about health
risks from so called man made electro smog. This Non Ionizing Electromagnetic
Radiation Pollution is invisible and in this context it is not detectable by our five senses.
Therefore every one tends to have
casualness towards personal protection. Since
use of these Electromagnetic Radiations
is inevitable by the Society, there is a need
to devise
more comprehensive protection
measures. As per the observed NIEMR
levels, we in are certainly vulnerable to adverse health
effects. Unfortunately ignorance
and non-awareness adds to this misery and all of us
are accepting this slow poison knowingly or unknowingly
says Adv. R.P.Rathod.
The current US standard for Cell Site
radiation in the US is 580-1000 microwatts per
square centimeter. Many other countries have set levels hundreds
of times lower. The reason
for the disparity is that no one really knows what
level of cell tower radiation is
safe. Current
limits have been influenced more by economic
and political
imperatives than by research into health and safety.
More important than the intensity of electromagnetic
radiation (EMR) emitted at
the tower is the strength of the resulting EMF wherever people live and work.
This depends on the intensity at the source -
and one's distance from it.
Adv. R. P.
Rathod says
that, if you are concerned about the EMR,
try to obtain the use of an RF (radio frequency)
gauss Meter designed for measuring Electromagnetic Radiation
in the cell phone frequency
(microwave) range. Switch off all wireless devices including
computer networks,
modems and mobile phones before
measuring RF radiation. What
remains will probably be mainly cell tower radiation,
although TV and radio station signals
may also contribute.
Now I know you wan’t to jump to
the conclusion
as to, How much cell tower
radiation is too much for your long-term health? No
one is exactly sure. But some experts suggest that if
you detect more than 100 mv/m (millivolts per
metre) in places where you
spend several hours a day, you should consider
planning
relocation. But the big question in cities
like Mumbai & Thane is you
have no place to run or hide.
This man made Electromagnetic
Smog has reached such a level that the RF Radiations
have started having ill effects on human health, health of
animals, functioning of normal
household, medical investigatory equipments
and even
on food products
being consumed by everybody. Though
this list is not intended as a diagnostic aid, as each symptom
here can have many causes, but for some people, short term effects
from cell tower radiation
exposure may include headaches, sleep disorders,
poor memory, mental excitation, confusion, anxiety, depression,
appetite disturbance and restlessness.
Thus, the phenomenon is like pollution.
So far as we have recognized Water
pollution, Air pollution, Noise pollution and now we
have to recognize the fact of so
called Non-Ionizing EMR Pollution
as a fact of life. Similar actions are required to be
taken
by the respective government to control Radiation
Pollution so that life
becomes healthy and in the long term, we need to
find ways of providing cell phone
convenience without exposing people to the
existing dangers of cell tower
radiation concludes Adv. R. P. Rathod.