Although, sparrows are tough birds, in Mumbai they have been subjected to an unholy combination of challenges that has broken their hardy backs. AFP Photo
The Electromagnetic Radiations from cellphones induce misdirection in the navigation ability of the honeybee. The waves make the bees disoriented. They go away from the hive and never come back because they can no longer find it.
The committee has stressed on minimising exposure levels by adopting stricter norms, as those followed in countries like Russia, China and New Zealand. “There is an urgent need to focus more scientific attention to this area before it would be too late,” cautions the expert committee.
Recognising EMF/EMR as a pollutant and introducing a law has been recommended by the committee as the first step to protect the urban flora and fauna. Besides removing the existing problematic towers, displaying bold signs and messages indicating danger on the cellphone towers has been called for. To help monitor the population of birds and bees, the panel has recommended that the locations of cellphone towers and other EMF radiating towers along with their frequencies be made available on public domain. Keeping a gap of at least 1 km in between towers and constructing them between a height of 80 ft and 190 ft to avoid coming into the way of birds flight has also been recommended.
The study also suggests “well-designed long-term impact assessment studies” to monitor the impact of ever-increasing intensities of EMRs on the biological environment.
The report has been submitted to the Ministry of Environment and a joint meeting with the Telecom Ministry has been scheduled for December.
