Shopian: The Deputy Commissioner Shopian today convened a meeting to review the erection of mobile towers in the district.
The meeting was attended by Managers od various Kashmir based tele companies like Reliance Jio, Airtel, Aircel, Vodafone, ATC, ITII, Tower Vision, ACHME and BSNL.
It was informed that Birds are the worst victims of radiation, according to environmentalists which can be best judged by the dwindling population of house sparrows in recent years due to the rising number of cell phone towers in different parts of the District.
DDC said that Mobile phones and towers emit a very low frequency of 900 or 1,800MHz, called microwaves. These waves can damage bird eggs and embryos as they cause thin skulls of chicks and thin eggshells” Besides, birds are known to be sensitive to magnetic radiation. Microwaves can interfere with their sensors and misguide them while navigating and preying.
As per the Environment specialists, mobile phone towers crowding the city skyline are making the air toxic. There are indicative studies to prove that these radiations are harmful for people living in a 300-metre radius of a cell phone tower. Pregnant women and children are at a higher risk than the normal population. The younger the child, the deeper is the penetration of electromagnetic radiation due to the fact that children’s skulls are thinner.
DDC said that the Radiation from such towers poses grave health risks including memory loss, lack of concentration and digestive disturbances.
It is very unfortunate to see huge cell phone towers thronging the rooftops in and around residential apartments, hospitals, schools and educational institutions and this has become more or less a common sight in cities across the state and elsewhere.
DDC says the popularity of cell phones and wireless communication devices has resulted in the proliferation of cell phone towers across the district.
“While all of us have had our share of fun with mobile technology, it is now time to introspect and study the problems that one could face because of cell phone towers being installed in residential areas.” (KNS)
