TOWERING HAZARD?

State sets up panel to check ‘harmful’ mobile radiation

 

Mumbai: Finally waking up to the dangers posed by radiations from mobile towers, the state government has set up a committee to gauge the amount of damage, if any, it causes to public health.
    TOI had reported in February that the government was reluctant to take any action regarding it.
    “We have set up a committee of experts that will be headed by the health secretary. We are now awaiting the panel’s report on whether radiations from mobile towers are actually harmful for health or not,’’ state health minister Suresh Shetty told TOI on Tuesday.
    However, activists who have been trying to get proper rules drafted for the construction and location of mobile towers, are convinced that radiations from these tower are highly hazardous to health. “According to a study conducted by a Swedish centre, radiations from mobile towers can cause migraine, fatigue, restlessness, lack of concentration, fearfulness and skin dehydration apart from cancer. The blood brain barrier is destroyed by the extremely high frequencies emitted from these towers; once the barrier is broken, toxins in the blood enter the brain and that may cause ailments like Parkinson’s disease,’’ said Manoj Londhe, a member of Mobile Tower Grievances Forum, which has taken it upon itself to educate ministers and the common man about the health hazards associated with mobile towers.
    The various research conducted by the medical fraternity in Mumbai, too, show a gamut of ailments—from psychiatric illnesses to hormonal imbalances—that are triggered by mobile radiation. The melatonin hormone, for example, which is produced mainly during sleep at night, is responsible for neutralising free radicals that destroy cellular composition and thus increase the risk of cancer. “The radiation cuts down on melatonin hormone by 25% to 30%. It may also harm foetuses,’’ said Londhe.
    To keep a check on this “hazardous radiation’’, activists have demanded that no mobile tower should be set up on a residential building, school or a hospital. An unbiased authority should oversee the construction of the towers and they should be at least 120 feet from human habitat, activists said.