JAIPUR: The Rajasthan High Court has asked the state government to file an action taken report on its decision to remove and relocate mobile towers near hospitals, schools and populated areas.

The government on Thursday told the court that a committee constituted by it has concluded that mobile towers in close vicinity of schools and hospitals need relocation. The committee submitted its report to the government on August 13. The division bench then directed that the report shall be submitted in the court.

To “avoid and mitigate” the impact of electromagnetic radiation on living beings, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests issued an advisory last week on the deployment of mobile-phone and other communication towers.

The advisory follows a report submitted by an expert committee formed by the Ministry to study the possible impact on people, animals, birds and bees. The advisory, sent to the State governments, Union Territory administrations, the Department of Telecommunications and the Planning Commission, says the committee’s report indicates that electromagnetic radiation interferes with biological systems.

No new tower within 1-km radius will encourage passive infrastructure sharing among firms

The latest advisory from the environment ministry, asking the telecom department to limit the number of cellphone towers within a specific area, is likely to benefit the existing tower firms, according to telecom experts. The new advisory, if accepted and implemented by the Department of Telecommunica-tions (DoT), will encourage passive infrastructure sharing among the companies, increasing the tenancy ratio of the existing towers, they said.

Radiation from mobile towers may have varying negative impact on wildlife especially birds and bees, according to the Environment Ministry.

Amid concerns over health hazards and impact on wildlife due to mobile tower radiation, the Environment Ministry has issued an advisory asking the Department of Telecommunications not to permit new mobile towers within a one-km radius of the existing ones. Noting there was a need to prevent the negative impact of electro-magnetic radiations (EMR) on birds and bees, the Ministry directed that the new towers should be constructed with utmost care and precautions 'so as not to obstruct flight path of birds, and also not to increase the combined radiation from all towers in the area'.

Jaipur: The Rajasthan high court, while hearing a case related to heath hazards due to mobile tower radiations, on Thursday sought data from the state on the number of cancer patients undergoing tr

Jaipur: The alleged threat of radiation from mobile towers has now made the high court look up.

The Rajasthan high court, while hearing a case related to heath hazards due to mobile tower radiations on Thursday, demanded statistics from the state government on the number of cancer patients undergoing treatment and those who have died in Jaipur. The data, along with steps taken to address public concern over the radiation, has been sought by August 16.

Russia on Monday night launched two telecommunications satellites aboard a Proton-M rocket from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare and the Department of Telecommunication on a pubic interest litigation seeking a direction to remove mobile phone towers from residential premises and public places and ban their installation at these sites in future.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw asked the Ministry and the Department to file replies to the petition by August 9, the next date of hearing.

NEW DELHI: Rising concern over health hazards from cell phone towers led the Delhi high court to question the state government and the Centre on steps being taken to address this problem.