Plea for mobile tower removal: HC seeks Centre, Delhi's reply

The Delhi High Court today asked the Centre and the city government to reply to the plea of an elderly man, whose son died of cancer, that a mobile tower be removed from his locality as it was causing health hazards.
Issuing notice to Ministry of Telecommunication, Chief Secretary of Delhi government and Reliance Telecommunications Ltd, Justice Rajiv Shadher asked them to file their response by April 8 on the petition filed by 76-year-old Shriniwas Sharma, a resident of Pitampura here.
In his petition filed through advocate Vikas Nagvan, Sharma said even though the telecom company had the knowledge of health hazards associated with mobile tower radiations, it installed the tower near a school and a hospital in his neighbourhood. He said the tower was installed within 20 m radius of his house.

Keeping in view the hazardous effects of mobile tower radiation and due to increasing health problems in the vicinity, the petitioner through residents welfare association filed a detailed complaint before authorities concerned for removal of the tower.
"However, till date, authorities as well as the company have not paid even slightest heed to the lawful requests of the petitioner," his plea said.
Sharma also said that his elder son died last April and his family members have been experiencing symptoms like severe headache, sleeplessness, constant fever and pain in eyes due to continuous exposure to mobile radiation.

His son was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and died within a year, he said, adding his wife has been diagnosed with swelling in the neck.

The petition said the tower was installed within 10 m radius of Sarvodaya Senior Secondary School, where children of age 5-17 years come to study.
"The mobile tower is continuously emitting harmful radiations in the neighbourhood of the petitioner and the lives of the petitioner and his family members including the lives of hundreds of children in the nearby school are at stake and till date no steps have been taken by respondents to ensure the safety," the plea said.
The petitioner also sought directions from the court to the mobile company to "donate its one day's gross profit in charity for the wrongful acts and omissions committed by it against the petitioner and the society".