Mobile companies have not responded yet to the call of Sindh Minister for Environment and Alternative Energy Dr Saghir Ahmed for shifting of mobile phone towers out of residential areas of Karachi.
Installation of a mobile phone tower on the building of any house or plot is described as a great fortunate for its respective owner as huge annual rent is paid in this connection.
However, the recent studies reveal that the mobile phone towers are emitting harmful electromagnetic waves in air, causing pollution, which badly affects health of human beings.
Sources in mobile companies said that shifting of mobile towers is not an easy job because it would be a complicated process.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) issues licenses to cellular companies for operations while the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) is authorised to allow them for setting up of towers in the city but it is not clear which authority would take action against mobile companies for not shifting towers. The issue seems to be a legal battle now as cellular companies have signed contract agreements with owners of buildings where mobile towers had been installed.
There are thousands of mobile towers in Karachi but the matter of concern is that the policy matters of various cell phone companies are settled in Islamabad and Lahore. Hence there is no agenda to address the issue at local level.
On Wednesday, Dr Saghir Ahmed said that mobile companies had not informed about the health hazards of these towers at the time of installation. He said that strict action would now be taken against these companies if they failed to shift their towers out of residential areas of the city. He also mentioned that if the guidelines set by the International Committee on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection were followed, these risks could be minimised.
The people are of the view that why were these companies not stopped during the installation of mobile towers at residential areas of the city.
Arrival of modern technology could not be challenged but experts mention that long-term planning based on ground realities, in-depth research and public opinion must be made before deciding.
Cases of health hazards by mobile towers are not new. Many NGOs in the past raised their voices against setting up of these towers in residential areas but ironically no heed was paid in this regard at that time.
The authorities in Pakistan had turned conscious at a time when matter had become very complex because shifting of tower would cause huge financial losses to the companies.
The NGOs are expecting the Environment Department Sindh would come forward with concrete measures to implement laws about mobile companies which would ensure shifting of towers out of the city.