K A L E I D O S C O P E

prime concern health
Are these a towering menace?
There is a growing fear among those living near mobile phone towers that radiation from them may cause cancer. The Centre has brought in new stringent radiation norms. Is the health threat for real?
By Girja Shankar Kaura
The recent move of the government to bring down the emission levels of mobile phone towers by 10 times has brought the issue pertaining to radiation back into focus. People living near cellphone towers are wary of the possible side-effects of the radiation.

last word: Prithviraj Chavan
Can Chavan survive the Pawar play?
After taking over the reins of Maharashtra to clean up the political mess, Prithviraj Chavan has been trying to cut the stifling NCP to size. Will he be able to hold on strong?
By Shiv Kumar
When Prithviraj Chavan took over as the Maharashtra Chief Minister two years ago, replacing Ashok Chavan who quit following his involvement in the Adarsh Housing Society scam, no one expected him to last more than a few months. After all, here was a leader who had packed his bags and moved to Delhi after falling out with Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar.

prime concern health
Are these a towering menace?
There is a growing fear among those living near mobile phone towers that radiation from them may cause cancer. The Centre has brought in new stringent radiation norms. Is the health threat for real?
By Girja Shankar Kaura

The recent move of the government to bring down the emission levels of mobile phone towers by 10 times has brought the issue pertaining to radiation back into focus. People living near cellphone towers are wary of the possible side-effects of the radiation. The question being asked is: Can radiation from these towers cause cancer? Although experts are divided over the issue, people are building pressure and want telecom operators to remove towers from the areas where they are living or even working.

On September 1, the government brought in new radiation norms that will put India in the group of a few countries to have established stringent electromagnetic frequency (EMF) radiation standards in the interest of public health. The standards would be for both the mobile towers as well as mobile handsets.

Indian standards would now be 10 times more stringent than over 90 per cent countries, with the EMF exposure limit for base station or cell tower 1/10th of the existing International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) exposure level.

The Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cell has been entrusted with the job of conducting an audit on self-certification furnished by the service providers. The cell will carry out test audit of 10 per cent of the base transceiver station (BTS) site randomly and in cases where there is a public complaint. For non-compliance of EMF standards, a penalty of Rs 5 lakh is liable to be levied per BTS per service provider.

Norms for handsets

New norms have also been brought in for mobile handsets. All the new designs of mobile handsets shall comply with the specific absorption rate (SAR) values of 1.6 W/kg (watt per kg) averaged over 1 gram of human tissue.

The mobile handsets with existing designs that are compliant with 2.0 W/kg averaged over 10 gram of human tissue will continue to co-exist up to August 31, 2013. From September 1, 2013, only handsets with revised SAR value of 1.6 W/kg would be permitted to be manufactured or imported in India. Also, the minimum distance of a cellphone

tower would have to be at least 35 metres from residential areas.

While bringing in new norms, the government has stressed that there was no evidence relating health risks to radiation from cellphone towers. However, experts don’t agree. They say that being exposed to a mobile tower located within 50 metre of home or workplace is like being in a microwave oven for 24 hours.

While cancer may develop in extreme cases, those living close to mobile towers have been complaining of disorders like sleep disturbances, headaches, fatigue and joint pains.

WHO unsure

Experts are quick to say that no concrete evidence has emerged that can link cancer to radiation from mobile towers. But at the same time, they recommend less use of mobile phones on a daily basis. After 20 minutes of using cellphones, one feels a warm sensation near the ear, which is because the temperature of the earlobe increases by 1 degree Celsius. Everyday, a maximum of six minutes of cellphone use is suggested as a cellphone transmits one to two watts of power, which is very high and dangerous.

Incidentally, the report of the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) says radiation from cellphone handsets and towers is “possibly carcinogenic to humans” and may cause glioma, a type of brain cancer. But there is no established evidence.

Benign swelling in the brain and head, hearing disorders, headaches and anxiety neurosis are some other health-related issues that are coming out. The impact can be higher in children, who have smaller and thinner skulls.

No conclusive evidence

The industry, predictably, is in denial mode. A spokesperson for a telecom operator said there were extensive factual, scientific research and papers that show that there is no conclusive evidence that EMF, at the levels prescribed by the ICNIRP, causes any risk to health.

Telecom operators say more than 90 per cent of their towers already comply with the new radiation norms brought in by the government, a fact which Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal had also stressed upon while announcing the new limits.

However, reducing the radiation limits could affect the quality of calls. Telecom operators say reducing the power means reducing the signal strength, which could lead to call drops.

This would mean setting up more towers to reduce the gap within the towers to maintain call quality, another issue that the Department of Telecom (DoT) reviews periodically.

There are around five lakh towers across the country. The industry estimates that at least 20,000 more towers would have to be installed to maintain call quality. At Rs 25 lakh a tower, this would translate to about Rs 9,000 to Rs 10,000 crore more expenditure, which would not only increase operating costs, but also eventually lead to increase in call rates as

the profit margins of most operators, who are already under heavy debts, would decrease.

Emission factors at play

• Frequency/wavelength of RF signal being transmitted
• Operating power of transmitting stations
• Radio frequency power radiated from the antenna
• Time of exposure of RF signal at a given distance from the antenna
• Exposure from other antennas located in the area
• Over powering of amplifier for better reception quality, signal strength & more coverage
• Duration/frequency of recurrent exposure
• Age, size & portion of the body
• Temperature and humidity

Austria
0.001 W/m2 

MYTHS & FACTS

Myth: Cellphone use causes headache

Fact: No scientific evidence to relate headache to mobile phone use

Myth: It is safer to use a mobile phone in a car as it shields radiation

Fact: Radio frequency (RF) increases to overcome shielding in a vehicle

Myth: Mobile phones cause cancer

Fact: No scientific proof

Myth: Mobile base stations are dangerous and one should keep distance from them

Fact: One should keep distance from antenna if facing it at comparable height. At ground level, the RF radiation from base station is low

Myth: No research is being carried out on the health effects of radiation

Fact: WHO, besides many national and international organisations, is studying the effects of RF radiation

last word: Prithviraj Chavan
Can Chavan survive the Pawar play?
After taking over the reins of Maharashtra to clean up the political mess, Prithviraj Chavan has been trying to cut the stifling NCP to size. Will he be able to hold on strong?
By Shiv Kumar

When Prithviraj Chavan took over as the Maharashtra Chief Minister two years ago, replacing Ashok Chavan who quit following his involvement in the Adarsh Housing Society scam, no one expected him to last more than a few months. After all, here was a leader who had packed his bags and moved to Delhi after falling out with Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar.

Moreover, his image as “Mr Clean” did not do him enough good. Successive Chief Ministers of the state held the lucrative Urban Development portfolio that allowed them direct control over real estate deals in Mumbai and other cities of Maharashtra. It is said that all Chief Ministers of Maharashtra were expected to contribute handsomely to their parties’ coffers, apart from keeping their colleagues at home “happy”.

Most of Chavan’s predecessors seem to have done well in that department, going by the notes they made in files pertaining to the Adarsh Housing Society. At least one controversial former Chief Minister was known to host builders at his official residence with meetings going on late into the night.

Codifying bylaws

Chavan’s adversaries watched eagerly as the builders’ lobby and the contractor mafia grew anxious at Chavan’s penchant for going through files with a fine-tooth comb. “He doesn’t need to contest elections, but we do and we are finding it difficult to face our voters with our projects being held up at the Chief Minister’s office,” a Congress leader had said.

Unfazed by criticism, Chavan worked slowly to clean up the mess. The impact was first felt in the way the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation cleared construction projects. Till Chavan codified some building bylaws, developers and civic officials in the building proposals department were allowed ample leeway to interpret zoning laws.

Chavan’s attempts to allow automatic permissions under a specified formula ensured that builders went ahead with construction after paying due taxes to the state government and the civic body. He has initiated moves to abolish the high-rise committee of the Mumbai civic body so that taller buildings could be constructed.

Aerospace engineer

Born in Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Chavan did engineering from BITS Pilani and pursued an MS degree in aerospace engineering at the University of California. He went on to work in the field of aircraft instrumentation and designing audio recorders for anti-submarine warfare in the US before returning to India in 1974 to set up his own business. Chavan, who was ushered into politics by Rajiv Gandhi, moved to New Delhi, where he was elevated as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Office. His parents were MPs from Karad and his father, the late DR Chavan, had been a minister in Nehru’s Cabinet.

Foe turns friend

With people on his side, Chavan has begun consolidating politically as well. In this he was helped by his old foe, the Maratha chieftain Sharad Pawar who was sidelined by his nephew and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The relationship between Chavan and Sharad Pawar seems to have come a full circle after over 20 years when the latter brandished his political knife against him.

After opposing Chavan’s candidature from his family borough of Karad in 1991, Pawar managed to win the seat eight years later after he formed the Nationalist Congress Party. Coinciding with his return to Maharashtra politics was the rise of Pawar’s ambitious nephew Ajit Pawar. A brusque politician, the younger Pawar systematically took away the reins of the NCP from his uncle. Sharad Pawar found himself outmanoeuvred by his nephew who donned the mantle of the Deputy Chief Minister. With the state unit of the NCP effectively out of his grip, Sharad Pawar had to rely on Chavan to stay relevant in Maharashtra.

Taking on Ajit Pawar

For Chavan it was an opportunity to cut the NCP down to size. And he went ahead with clinical precision. Within weeks of taking over, he cracked down on the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, the apex cooperative bank in the state controlled by the Pawars and their kin.

The bank was responsible for funding all cooperative banks and through them, agricultural cooperatives in Maharashtra. However, financial mismanagement under the chairmanship of Ajit Pawar had eroded the institution’s net worth and the Reserve Bank of India had called for its restructuring. The bank is now under the control of Chavan’s administrators.

Even as Ajit Pawar seethed, Chavan turned his attention to the irrigation department — for long the cash cow of the NCP. He said over Rs 70,000 crore were spent on various irrigation projects in the state with very little to show for it.

Revelations in the media about various projects cleared by Ajit Pawar during his tenure as the Irrigation and Water Resources Minister for most of the past decade embarrassed his deputy. The last straw was Chavan’s threat to bring out a white paper on the irrigation projects undertaken by the department.

With the noose tightening around him, Ajit Pawar put in his papers. Chavan dragged in other NCP leaders into the picture.

Sticky wicket

But Chavan is not out of the woods. A wounded Ajit Pawar is waiting to strike. Within days of his resignation being accepted, he trained his guns on Chavan.

Addressing a public meeting here, Ajit Pawar questioned Chavan’s conduct.

”Some people keep files pending. For what reasons, I don’t know. May be they want to study those files. I don’t want to comment on that,” he said, warning he would not quit without a fight. From past experience Chavan knows how much of a fair-weather friend can the senior Pawar be. And with his party colleagues hankering for the top job, it will not be easy. “I don’t decide on such matters. I will follow the directions issued to me,” he said when rumours about his departure surfaced yet again.