A Mobile Tower Policy for Goa

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The mobile tower phobia in Goa is unwarranted. Basically it has spread like wild fire because of the unwillingness of the state government to issue simple radiation, locational and safety guidelines. I had penned an article – ‘Mobile tower phobia’ in this column on December 15, 2004. I had concluded-“The government must now wake up and address the concern of citizens using the best scientific data in a democratic and transparent manner. Goa needs improved cell phone network with the safety to the citizens fully assured. The mobile tower phobia needs to be controlled before it spreads like wildfire.” But neither the cellphone service providers nor the government’s designated departments were interested in regulations. The cold war between cell phone operators, the entry of various vested interests, the activism of self styled doomsday prophets, extortionism, village politics, technical ignorance all have clouded objectivity. Unfortunately, the public owned BSNL seems to be an easy and soft target.

Cell phone, cord less phone, wireless and blue tooth users are more exposed to radio frequency radiation hazards as compared to the mobile towers erected atop elevated structures. There is nothing called – good radiation and bad radiation – but there is something called acceptable radiation-the minimum limits of radiation exposure. The NIMBY (Not-In_My_backyard) syndrome is spreading in Goa. But in the same backyards, if a few farmers converge in a field and make a huge bonfire of weeds and heavily pollute the environment with carcinogenic and toxic gases, ash, soot, dust, they are exempted being “eco friendly”. The solution to this problem is composting the weeds to recycle the nutrients.

In the same manner the solution to mobile tower phobia is not procrastination by authorities but to adopt a policy which Pakistan’s telecommunications authority (PTA) has recently adopted. They accepted the 1998 guidelines of International Council for Non-ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) for public and occupational exposure to radiation to be adopted as national standard. These guidelines set conservative limits on uncontrolled (public) and controlled (occupational) exposure resulting from radiation due to base station antennas. As a general rule, (a) to meet the uncontrolled (public) exposure guideline, the antennas be so deployed that no access for the public is possible within more than 8 meters (25 feet) from the radiating surface of the antenna (directly in front of antenna in horizontal plane) and (b) to meet the controlled (occupational) exposure guide lines of ICNIRP, precaution be adopted for areas within 3 meters (10 feet) of the radiating surface.

If Goa government adopts these guidelines then independent, random audit of base stations would have to be conducted to ensure compliance to the guidelines about levels of exposure. This will ensure that the public will be protected against any radiation exposure risks within guideline levels. Pakistani authorities have promised to publish radiation standards and the information on audit surveys on its’ website to make it readily accessible, interpretable by members of the public and kept up-to-date. Then there is a public education component. PTA has assured that in collaboration with the industry it will devise and execute a well structured media campaign to educate the public about safety standards related to radiation from base station antennas. PTA in its regulations on the subject has promised that appropriate measures are adopted by operators to follow the base station siting criteria and work practices proposed in the study.

What is expected of the Pakistani policy to regulate mobile towers? They feel that- the adoption of proposed guidelines will harmonise the antenna deployment and work practices and bring installations in line with international practices and address perceptional concerns of general public. With the media awareness campaign and public availability of data on base station antennas and the audit trail data of all antennas they expect that public perceptions about health hazards will improve. The Pakistani authorities found that the state of the art technology for antennas currently being deployed in their country would not lead to violation of exposure limits unless the antenna sites are deployed in such a manner that they directly face populated buildings.

Goa is a small place. It is high time that the government specifies the radiation standards and orders a radiation audit of base stations. Certain towers would have to be relocated if their radiation footprint is found to affect population centers. There is a definite link between the increasing radiation exposure (from all natural and man made sources) in Goa and the rising incidences of tumours and cancers among the local people. Children are especially vulnerable to low but prolonged exposure to microwave radiation. Government authorities and readers may refer to the article - The Public Fights Back: Static On The Microwave Front

(http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF0102/Brodeur/Brodeur.html) and the news item ‘County prepared to restrict cell phone towers’ (http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_10766382?nclick_check=1) to enlighten themselves. Another useful link is -Internet Resources for Information About EMF (http://infoventures.com/emf/top/others-i.html) which would guide people concerned about radiation hazards.