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Cell phone towers face heatDec 12, 2012 (Hindustan Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The three municipal corporations have launched a crackdown on illegal cell phone towers across the capital. The east municipal corporation on Tuesday sealed three towers while two towers were sealed by the south corporation. The action is being initiated because of the potential ill-effects of cell phone towers on human health. More towers will be sealed in the south zone in the coming days as the corporation has issued show cause notices to 34 buildings (school and hospitals). The east corporation had already sealed eight illegal towers in the recent months. The south corporation said action would be taken on cell phone towers installed on top of school buildings and hospitals. The north municipal corporation, which issued a show cause notice to 124 towers, on Tuesday started a new survey to identify more such illegal structures. The north civic agency has also announced a new policy banning towers on school buildings and hospitals. "The drive is being carried twice every week to ensure more such towers are sealed. We have given them enough time to remove the towers on their own. The drive will intensify in the coming few days," said SS Yadav, east Delhi commissioner. There are a total 1,549 illegal mobile phone towers in areas under the south Delhi corporation but the drive will initially focus on schools and hospitals as removing all of them will disrupt network connectivity. North Delhi corporation officials said there are 677 illegal cell towers in their jurisdiction but the fresh survey is likely to increase the number to at least 800. A number of cell phone towers came up after the trifurcation of the civic agency. Cell towers help in receiving and sending signals from mobile phones to service providers' base switch and vice-versa. Cell phones and towers are believed to cause cancer though it is yet to be scientifically proven. ___ (c)2012 the Hindustan Times (New Delhi) Visit the Hindustan Times (New Delhi) at www.hindustantimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |