Not just you, cell tower radiation killing birds

INDORE: Ever wondered about vanishing house sparrows, declining number of peacocks and other birds in city?
A study 'A possible impact of communication tower on wildlife birds and bees'-- conducted by expert committee of Union ministry of environment and forest-- attributes the drop in number of birds in Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Ujjain and other cities to increase in use of mobile phones and electromagnetic radiation (EMR) emitting from communication towers.
"The number of mobile users in India is expected to rise to one billion in next few years. Such a rise will multiply mobile towers, which dot the country in a haphazard way," said Asad Rahmani, head of the committee. Concerned over increasing number of mobile towers in city, a city-based animal activist Sudhir Khetawat has written a letter to Animal Welfare Board, urging it to take necessary action in the matter.
"It is dangerous for birds and even forest department, in its letter dated May 5, 2015 and May 12, 2015, has accepted that mobile-tower radiation is effecting health of birds and peacock in particular," said Khetawat. Girish Kumar from electrical engineering department of IIT-Mumbai, who had done extensive work on harmful effects of mobile towers radiation on human, birds and animals, said birds, including sparrows, honey bees and peacocks are severely affected by cell-tower radiation as their surface area is more (so radiation absorbed is more) as compared to their body weight.
"When cell-tower radiation impinges on the human body or birds, molecules in the blood, fluid, water vibrate at a speed of 900 millions per second for GSM900 and 1,800 millions per second for GSM1800. These vibrations cause DNA damage and also produce heat, which is the principle of microwave heating," said Kumar.
He added that effects on peacocks is much more pronounced as its wings/feather occupy more surface area resulting in large absorption of radiation, and hence, creating more health hazards leading to various ailments and even death.