You can Lower your Society Maintenance Bills but with Health Risk, the choice is yours, says Adv. R. P. Rathod



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.