Mobile phone towers ringing the death knell for squirrels and sparrows in India?

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Sparrows were once abundant in the city spaces and rural markets in India. But rising concrete jungles, increasing pollution and now, mobile phone towers are causing them to disappear from the Indian landscape, says a group of conservationists in the country. Meanwhile, reports from other parts of the country shows that squirrels also could be victims of increasing mobile phone tower presence and resulting impact of high Electro-Magnetic Radiation.

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

According to PTI, ornithologist Amarjit Gupta has pointed out that the number of sparrows across the country has been falling down drastically over a period of time, raising serious concern. According to him, a recent study has shown that sparrows were present only in localities which are located at a particular distance from the towers. 

MoEF advisory on mobile phone towers

The issue has attracted the attention of Indian authorities in India earlier itself, which forced Ministry of Environment and Forests to constitute an Expert Group to study the possible impacts of communication towers on wildlife, including birds and bees in 2011.

With a wide and deep review of the existing research literature on the issue, the committee found that exposure to Electro Magnetic Radiation at high levels adversely affects living organisms. However, the review was not able to establish a cause – effect relation between mobile phone tower presence and any population decline among sparrows due to lack of reliable data. Later,MoEF has issued an advisory saying that new cell phone towers should not be installed within one kilo meter radius of existing ones.

You too, Squirrels?

However, the skepticism about mobile phone towers and its impact on living beings still lingers. Villagers and farmers in the Northern parts of the Indian state of Kerala also report on the sudden disappearance of squirrels from the farms and nearby places.

 Indian palm squirrel (Funambulus palmarum)
Image: Indian Biodiversity Talks

According to George K., a Cocoa farmer in Kannur district, Cocoa cultivators used to face serious annoyance from squirrels during the fruit ripening season. “Cocoa cultivators used to apply pesticides like Furadan, as poison to ward off the issue. But now, they are nowhere to see”.

According to him, squirrels are almost absent in these areas now that the ripened Cocoa fruits remain intact, without the need to poisoning.  “Though poisoning could have killed many squirrels in the past, we doubt that the increasing presence of mobile phone towers is a reason which has caused the sudden disappearance of the creatures”, says he.

Though many conservationists suspect the chances of any particular pesticide used in the farms as a possible cause for the disappearance, they are not ready to rule out the role played by increasing mobile phone tower density in these areas.

In these far flung villages with difficult hilly terrain, towers are installed comparatively closer to fill the coverage-less areas caused by steep valleys and occasional peaks.

Though more scientific proof is needed to confirm the doubts, the alarm is clear. Something in the environment is wiping sparrows and squirrels away.

No new cell phone towers in one kilometer radius of existing towers to avoid negative impact on wildlife, Says Indian environment ministry

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Pointing out an urgent need to refine the Indian standards on safe limits of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) exposure, an advisory issued by the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) urges the department of Telecommunications to stop allowing new cell phone towers in a one kilometer radius of existing ones, to avoid any negative effects of EMR exposure on the wild life, especially birds and bees.

Cell Phone towers
near Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan

It also directs state and local authorities to conduct Environment Impact Assessment before installing new towers near protected areas. “Before according permission for construction of towers, ecological impact assessment and review of installation sites will be essential in wild life or ecologically important areas. The forest department should be consulted before installation of cell phone towers in and around protected areas”, says the advisory.

It also directs state and local level administrative bodies to take out regular monitoring around protected areas and ecologically sensitive areas to spot any problematic towers. 

The advisory also urges the telecom department to make location and the EMR emission data of all cell phone towers available in the public domain. Location wise GIS mapping of cell phone towers will help future population monitoring of birds and insects around the towers and protected areas, it says.  

Cell phone Towers and Birds

New towers, if at all necessary, should be built in such a way not to increase the combined radiation level in the area or to block the flying paths of birds, says the advisory. 

It also suggests that the security lighting in the vicinity of the towers should be minimal and directed downwards to avoid bird hits. It also directs local bodies to promote the use of visual daytime markers if the towers are located in areas where there is a high waterfowl movement or raptor movement in night.

Expert Group Report

Earlier, an Expert Group to study the possible impacts of communication towers on Wildlife including Birds and Bees constituted by MoEF has found that “the Electromagnetic Radiations (EMRs) are interfering with the biological systems in more ways than one”, based on a review of existing literature. 

There was wide speculation from all quarters that increasing presence of cell phone towers are sweeping away birds like sparrows and bee populations in India due to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). However, the Expert Group found that there is a lack of research from India about the effect of EMR from cell phone towers on birds and bees to trigger CCD. 

The advisory has been formulated based on the report of the expert group, said MoEF sources.