What is a rude shock? Waking up one morning to find a mobile tower erected near your house or not being able to get across to emergency services on account of dropped calls? The comparison here might seem a little dramatic, but it helps bring out the irony between the desire for mobile connectivity and fear of mobile towers which help provide that connectivity. Residents of a ward in Sancoale reacted with characteristic fear on seeing a mobile tower allegedly erected overnight. Inquiries revealed that the panchayat had neither issued a construction licence nor was an NOC obtained from the PWD, although the department had agreed to allow the company to erect towers in widening areas along roads and highways.
Does this issue pertain to illegality or fear of having a mobile tower close by? It is obviously the latter because this is an all-India phenomenon, on account of which call-drops have become the norm instead of the exception. The Centre has been pressing mobile service providers to erect more towers and companies have been facing resistance from people, who for some reason are convinced that they are bad for health.
This situation has arisen primarily because mobile companies never took the time to explain the working of a mobile towers. Mobile networks have grown at such a phenomenal rate that companies never though it important to engage the end-users on this issue. In the meanwhile the naysayers were at work and today it is deeply believed that mobile towers are health risks.
Everybody seems to know that mobile towers emit radiation. What most people do not know is that radiation falls into two categories -- ionising and non-ionising. Mobile tower waves, FM radio waves, microwaves, heat and light fall in the non-ionising category and are not harmful. The ionising category comprises X-rays, gama rays and ultraviolent light which can break down chemical bonds in our DNA and are therefore harmful. The American Cancer Society has clearly stated that the energy levels from mobile towers are too low to cause cancer. The only real effect of these radiations is heating.
However, the argument does not end with this description. People need to be informed, perhaps by mobile companies since they have the money to do it or the government, about the norms governing erection of mobile towers. The radiation norms set by the central Department of Telecom are very stringent but as long as people are not aware of these norms and how they can be enforced a mindset of fear will persist. At one point the government had decided to reduce the power of base stations unmindful that lowering power would cause the handset to step-up power to remain in contact with the mobile tower.
By not intervening in the matter, the state and central governments are guilty of allowing the situation to drift and by default have empowered the naysayers. Issues concerning mobile towers appear to be based on fear and not on scientific data. The government and mobile companies must initiate programmes to educate people on issues pertaining to radiation and mobile towers to eradicate fears based on misinformation.
