PESHAWAR: A Peshawar resident has lodged a petition in the high court, urging it to shift all cellular towers from residential areas to non-residential areas, citing health concerns.
The petitioner, Muhammad Naeem, filed a petition in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) through his lawyer Noor Alam Khan, contending that the antennas and other communication equipment installed on high towers dot the skyline of cities and villages and flood the air with high-frequency radio waves known as microwaves for miles around to propagate the use of cell phones as well as WiFi, WiMax, wireless LANs, and Bluetooth technology support devices and many more.
The mobile phone towers have also been also installed on the top of buildings in residential areas and markets which emit dangerous microwaves at a frequency of 190 MHz. Naeem argued that these waves affect every biological organism within a square kilometer. He added that the higher the frequency; the more powerful the effect on all biological organisms. He detailed that this causes a variety of health problems including cardiovascular stress, memory loss, birth defects, cancer, miscarriages, brain tumours amongst others.
He asserted that the health effects of cell tower waves are worse than cigarette smoking and it is not only the human beings which are affected, even gardens and vegetation are.
He said that “It was found that the output of most fruits bearing trees reduced drastically from 100 percent to just five percent 2.5 years after cell towers were installed near orchards.”
The petitioner urged to the court to direct the government to implement zoning laws made for environment protection and ensure the measures taken under international laws, guidelines and policies for the protection from radiations from the base transceiver stations and microwaves antennas, directions to prevent the installation of towers in residential and market areas.
