I have tried to keep an open mind on the construction of mobile towers in residential areas, read various hypotheses and assumptions for and against and all i can do is wonder which will be proved true. The esteemed Dr Salkar says "As Of Now there is no evidence that mobile towers cause cancer in the vicinity" .There is no conclusive scientific evidence YET and he has not given any guarantee that in the near future it will be proved that mobile towers are absolutely safe, no health hazards at all
We commit a logical fallacy when we say that one view must be true because the opposite view cannot be proved.(Logic as a formal branch of study and the science of thought, terms this as 'Fallacy of Argumentum ad Ignoratiam") Even if there is 1% doubt in anyones mind that 24 hours exposure to mobile tower radiation is harmful, that person has the right to say "No" to a mobile tower coming up in the vicinity and the person also has a right to be heard. We cannot take the slightest risk on the health and well being of humans and the environment. If the site of the controversial mobile tower has been identified as the best location for Saligao, does it mean that they have made a thorough study of all possible sites in the village? Is'nt there a safer location which is just as strategic? Let the tower be constructed away from residential areas and let peace and harmony prevail in Saligao. We also need to maintain the sylvan beauty of Arrarim. Yvonne ----- Original Message ----- From: dilip dacruz To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, March 09, 2012 1:31 AM Subject: RE: [SALIGAONET] Fwd: Re: Opposition to mobile towers. Ive watched this controversy unfold with anguish. I've felt some of the pain that my dear friend Gerard must've felt, and I am horrified at the acrimony generated by the (bilateral) personal attacks. Tower or no tower we need to all live together. In Saligao everyone is a neighbour. Cold-shouldering, ignoring, not speaking, cursing - these actions all cause hurt and pain and are far more destructive than any tower (seriously). Gerard is right. One only has to look at the scientific literature - peer reviewed literature (not any internet crap) - to come to the following conclusions: A. Numerous linear cohort studies have failed to show any health risks attributable to mobile towers. Not one has shown harm. B. But, in keeping with the 'Kehoe Principle', absence of harm is not equal to proof of safety. Nonethess we can only work with the evidence we have, for to do otherwise would be to invite superstition and chaos - and harm. C. For, as I mentioned previously (in 2009, I think), what cannot be disputed is that good mobile phone signals save many lives and reduce harm (morbidity). That was a study from the Carolinas. The mast will save lives in Saligao too. D. What also cannot be disputed is that one gets more radiation by answering one's own phone than from a mast. But it's at this point that I begin to differ with proponents of the tower: It surely has to be accepted that placing the mast well away from built-up areas is safer - just in case. We know there is no increased risk of cancer but a 1:100,000 risk of, say, Depression might never be identified. We must always accept the best evidence with a pinch of wisdom. Let's try to keep the mast away from built-up areas if at all possible, just in case. Yet, the worst outcome is to have no tower at all for its benefits are indeed significant and measurable. To my mind, the deal-breaker is the aesthetic impact on beautiful Arrarim. Has anyone taken it upon themselves to photograph the current landscape and then to draw a picture of what the landscape might look like with the tall structure in place (to scale)? That would be an objective way of assessing aesthetic impact, and it isn't hard to do. PS: Such a drawing could also be a lot of fun: what would the tower look like when illuminated at Christmas? Could we illuminate it like the church? Would tourists come to gawp? Could we get Austin to put a huge cross on top of it, Rio style? That would surely bring a lot of customers to Lawrie's Bar. Would wedding parties afix loud speakers to the mast? Would the BJP fly a flag from atop at election time? What would he mast look like draped with a picture of Katrina Kaif advertising her latest movie? Now, there's a thought.... Love, my friends. Love. Dilip (Joe) [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2012 20:03:22 +0530 From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: [SALIGAONET] Fwd: Re: Opposition to mobile towers. For the Saligao netters, this is the msg. from Goa's well known and leading cancer surgeon. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: Opposition to mobile towers. Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2012 17:32:46 +0530 From: shekhar salkar <[email protected]> To: Gerard Delaney <[email protected]> sir, as of now there is no evidence to suggest that mobile towers increase risk of cancers in d vicinity!!! people at large difficult to handle nowadays!!! u may need to explain then individually than in group as group psychology is different!!! shekhar salkar On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 4:19 PM, Gerard Delaney <[email protected]> wrote: Shekhar, Here in Saligao we get very poor signal of all mobile providers except Vodafone, because a local person Mr. Cyril D'Mello has set up a temporary mobile tower having Vodafone here, that too after a lot of opposition. Now Mr. D'Mello has entered into a lease with me to install a permanent 50m high tower in my property with 3 servers. He has promised that when it is operational, the total SAR (measure of power) would not cross the value of 1watt/sqm. (The recommendation by the Indian Govt. for this is 9watt/sqm). The SAR of the present mobile tower in Saligao is just 0.2watt/sqm. I Googled and checked articles about Mobile towers by the American Cancer Society : http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/AtHome/cellular-phone-towers as well as the report by the World Health Organization. Both these sites also gave a clean chit to mobile towers. Since I have studied Physics myself, I know that microwave radiation does not have the frequency to pack a punch and cause cancer like the radiations of UV, X Rays and Gamma rays. Besides, the microwaves which are emitted from the tower and which reach us have a low intensity and cannot cause any heating. Hence I had gone ahead and entered into the lease with Mr. D'Mello even though the tower would be at a distance of just 20m from my house. The excavation work started 1 month ago, and all the neighbors have made a big ruckus, took a signature campaign of about 500 people and stopped the work. They called for a public awareness program on towers last Sunday where a presentation of one Mr. G. Kumar was shown. The people were told about various dangers like cancer, boils, reduction in sperm count, psychiatric problems, heating of the body, etc. etc.!!! They were also told that these towers are the cause of depletion of bees, and the cause of absence of birds etc.!!! When a local dentist Dr. Sushant Walke stood up and began talking about the dangerous and non-dangerous types of radiation, they were not interested in listening to him. {We know that this Mr. Kumar has a hidden agenda in frightening people with his presentation, because he is selling anti radiation shields} You being the leading cancer surgeon of Goa, I would like to know from you if you consider these mobile towers as dangerous and if the incidences of cancer have increased these last 12 years since the towers have come into existence. G.Delaney -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe email [email protected] -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe email [email protected] -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe email [email protected]
