Cellphone towers are facing maximum opposition in Mumbai and Delhi, with approximately 120 and 110 leases cancelled or not renewed.

"The number of cellphone towers whose lease agreements have not been renewed or cancelled is rising," said Rajan Mathews, director-general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). There have been five cancellations/non-renewals in West Bengal and 8-10 in Kerala.

With radiation scare leading to a clampdown on mobile tower installations, the most discernible fallout is the rising incidence of call drops in cities such as Delhi and Mumbai.

Ironically, the more serious worry is that weaker signals are forcing mobile handsets to compensate by ramping up transmission power, effectively resulting in higher radiation exposure for users from the phone itself.

The flipside of the BMC policy banning installation of cellular phone towers atop and around hospitals has come to the fore.

Doctors complained deactivation of towers at Lilavati Hospital was causing connectivity problems, so much that communication on the premises had become difficult affecting patient care. Relatives of several patients also complained “no connectivity” was making it tough for them to contact doctors. People on almost all floors of the hospital building were seen trying to position phones in such a way to catch network.

The Supreme Court on Monday extended by three weeks the January 27 deadline set by the Rajasthan High Court to remove mobile phone towers installed overhead or in the vicinity of schools, hospitals and playgrounds.

Hearing an appeal by the telecom operators against the high court order of November 27, the apex court also issued notices to the Centre and Rajasthan government. A division bench of the Rajasthan High Court had held mobile towers as a health hazard and directed telecom service providers operating in the state to remove within two months their towers falling in the vicinity of schools, hospitals and playgrounds.

Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) plans to carry out a survey of cell towers in the city to identify unauthorised towers.

The building permission department has submitted a proposal to the standing committee to appoint an agency for the survey. The proposal is expected to come up before the panel at it’s meeting on Tuesday. The civic administration had issued tenders for the survey last year. Three agencies had participated n the tender process, of which one agency has to be selected.

Illegal and clandestine transmissions by private players at levels much higher than the telecom regulator-prescribed 20 Watt are leading to problems in the city, says a preliminary report by KEM Hospital submitted to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

“If the cell companies put up towers at the specified limit, they will need more towers. This does not go well with their businesses. Hence, illegal and clandestine transmissions at a higher power are used as a means to reduce the required number of towers, risking the population of RF radiations,” said the report by the committee chaired by KEM Dean Dr Sandhya Kamat.

New Delhi: Telecom operators on Friday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Rajasthan High Court’s order that asked them to remove all mobile phone towers — suspected to be potential health haza

New Delhi: Your fear about excessive use of mobile phones causing serious health problems was not ill-founded after all. Months after World Health Organization classified radiofrequency electromagnetic field (EMF) as ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’, another global report has redflagged the use of such technology, citing health risks, including growth of brain tumour and loss of fertility in men.

BioInitiative 2012 — which is a collaborative effort by 29 authors from 10 countries, including the chair of the Russian national committee on non-ionizing radiation, a senior adviser to the European Environmental Agency and two professors from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi — calls for a review of public safety limits.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought the response of American Tower Corporation Ltd on a plea alleging that mobile phone towers across the country are being installed in violation of stipul