Mobile towers in Goa seem to be in the news recently especially in the villages due to continuous public unease and suspicion due to the radiation risks to all living beings staying around it. At a time when we have become attached to our mobiles, seldom we realize that the mobile itself is a device continuously emitting radiation threat to us when we hold it close to our body or when we sleep next to it. However, the extent of radiation of a mobile is negligible considering the swathes of radioactive emission around a mobile tower that necessary posters are mandatory to be posted around it to keep people far away at safe distance. People staying around the towers are like food being cooked in a microwave by a magnetron device. When we sleep we can afford to switch off of our mobiles to have a safe sleep but unfortunately we cannot do anything about the Tower next door as it continuously transmits radiation 24 x7.
What is surprising that although India has progressed in all fronts but when it comes to people’s health hardly anyone bothers as people’s lives and their interests are never looked upon seriously in our system of governance. So much that there no rules are in force to keep Towers at a safe distance from people’s houses or means available to monitor amount of radioactivity in areas near mobile towers or any liability clauses for people to sue Tower companies for radiation fallout. Case studies have time and again proved that people staying around mobile towers have been diagnosed mainly for brain cancer, headache, birth defects and various other problems which we can easily search on the internet in today’s age.
It is well-known that expectant mothers are not subjected to X-rays by doctors solely because of birth defects due to radiation. Question is how safe are today’s mobiles or their signal towers and what people staying around need to do or be aware of.
In western developed countries Mobile Towers are never erected near residential houses or on residential building tops but are very far away from residential localities especially on hills and mountains or on highways due to stringent norms concerning tower radiation. People will have to think of investing in installing radiation shields around their houses to somewhat protect them and their children from the ill effects of tower radiation.
What is most surprising is that Tower companies seem to have dared to go one step ahead of bypassing all Licensing procedures and erecting their Towers first hoping that all the NOC’s and the permits will follow suit as in our system of governance money talks and rules can be bent at the right price. Even previous High Court judgments banning Mobile Towers near schools and Hospitals are not being followed by the Tower Companies proof of which is the High Tower standing right opposite the Holy Spirit High School, Margao.
In today’s age where the internet and its various apps have become our lifeline we need to find out a balance between our health and the health risks of the tower standing next door.
