Urbanisation, Insecticides Pushing Winged Creatures Towards Extinction

Lucknow: Many bird species once sighted commonly across Uttar Pradesh are now vanishing. The reasons could be many and diverse, but technology appears to be the biggest factor behind this threat looming over the feathered friends of man. First mynahs faced the extinction threat, then sparrows and vultures followed. And now, the existence of graceful peacock is also threatened due to various factors.

The West Bengal Human Rights Commission directed the State’s Pollution Control Board here on Thursday to inquire into complaints by residents of a multi-storey building in the city’s Park Street area claiming they are facing health hazards due to installation of mobile phone towers on the roof of the building.

Residents of Karnani Mansion on Park Street had registered a complaint with the Commission this past week. “We have directed the Pollution Control Board to conduct an inquiry by a competent authority and submit a report to us within three weeks,” West Bengal Human Rights Commission joint secretary Sujay Kumar Haldar told The Hindu .

BHUBANESWAR: The state government has asked the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) to finalize special regulations for installation of telecom towers in Bhubaneswar and other urban areas in the state within 15 days.

State housing and urban development (H&UD) secretary Injeti Srinivas, while reviewing the progress of the proposed regulation on February 28, has asked the BDA to expedite the finalization so that it can be sent to the H&UD for vetting and subsequent approval.

Almost 15 years after the Karnataka Urban Development Department issued a circular to the municipal bodies in the State to frame rules for installing private telecom towers on residential and commercial buildings, the Karnataka Directorate of Municipal Corporations (KDMC) has now suddenly woken up to frame the rules, including on radiation levels emanated from a tower.

The directorate is in the process of framing the draft rules, which will be sent to the Additional Chief Secretary for approval. The State government initiated the process of framing the draft rules following the Centre’s direction to the Urban Development Department.

NEW DELHI: Fear of radiation is leading to mobile towers being shut in the richest localities of central Delhi, a trend that's likely to affect connectivity in the heart of Lutyens Delhi.

On Monday, a mobile tower at Aurangzeb Road was dismantled and operations of two towers at Amrita Shergill Marg were halted, claim cellular operators. With two towers at Tata Sadan to be switched off on February 28, cellular operators say, connectivity is going to be severely affected in this exclusive enclave.

P VAIDYANATHAN IYER Investments slowed down because of uncertainty and it happens a lot with telecom companies. What is your take on the issue?

The Directorate of Municipal Administration’s (DMA) latest regulations on mobile phone towers have not gone down well with some quarters, which feel that the department should have come out with more stringent rules to check the mushrooming of such towers.

The DMA, in its order, has observed that telecom towers are a threat to the environment, human beings, birds and animals and, therefore it was issuing a set of regulations.

Municipal Administration Commissioner P Ravi Kumar has directed all deputy commissioners to conduct a survey of mobile towers coming under their jurisdiction and shift such towers which are in violation of the guidelines issued by the Department of Telecommunication.

In a recent letter to the Deputy Commissioners, copies of which were released to the media on Monday, Ravi Kumar has stated that the move is to protect human beings, birds and animals from the hazards of mobile tower radiations.

Even as doctors at Lilavati Hospital, Bandra, complained that deactivation of cellphone towers at the hospital was causing connectivity problems owing to BMC's policy of not allowing them above hos

Court to hear plea against Raj HC order banning towers from public-use buildings

Beginning today, the country’s highest court will hear petitions filed by telecom-industry lobbies challenging a recent Rajasthan High Court order that directed telecom companies to remove cellphone towers from schools, hospitals, jails and heritage buildings in the state amid claims that tower radiation was harmful. Officials of two leading industry associations, representing mobile operators and telecom tower companies, feel the Supreme Court’s verdict in the case could set a precedent on where all towers can be located and how they operate.