The very nature of the cellular phone technology is such as to necessarily have a large number of transmission-cum-receiving towers spread all over the area serviced, the distance between any two adjacent towers being not more than a few hundred metres. Consequently, in cities and towns these towers are located even in close proximity to residential areas. This is not a happy situation because for maintaining round the clock cell phone connectivity these towers are always emitting powerful pulses of electromagnetic radiation and also receiving radio signals from cell phones. Exposure over long periods of time to such radiation can have carcinogenic effects in human body. The problem is made worse when some house owners permit the telecom companies to put up towers on top of their houses. For a monthly rent of thirty to forty thousand rupees these people not only overload the foundation and superstructure of their houses, they also choose to expose themselves, their families and neighbours to continuous doses of cancer-causing radiation.
The reward of the monthly rent may be sufficient to offset the risk for themselves and their families but they have no right to endanger the lives of their neighbours. The governments, municipal, state and central, therefore, must make stringent laws and rules prohibiting telecom towers in residential areas and it must be the duty of the residents’ associations to report the violations to the concerned authorities. Some people may crib that blanket ban on telecom towers in residential areas could result into loss of cell phone connectivity there, but if asked to choose between good health and cancer-causing connectivity, what would they choose? Of course, no prizes for guessing it right!
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