Dubai: Construction of a new mobile tower in the Meadows community has raised fears among residents who are concerned about their children being exposed to radiation.
The foundation for the new tower has been laid in Meadows 6, as telecommunications company Du started construction work in the area around 10 days ago. The location of the new tower is near the community park as well as two lakes, one connecting Meadows 6 to Springs 2 and Meadows 5, while the other stretches out to Springs 3.
Dozens of residents are worried their children will suffer the consequences while playing at the community park and around the lakes on a daily basis. However, the communications company claims it is abiding by regulations and keeping within the safe levels of radiation exposure to the public.
Indian resident Bhavana Awasthi, mother of two children, told Gulf News the construction for the new tower is visible form her backyard. She explained that residents found out about the tower from a board that was hung up by the site. “Residents were not considered, told, or asked about placing the tower in the community. The park by the lakes is a popular spot for children, and even if they claim the tower will emit little radiation, it is not fair to subject people in the community to extended hours of radiation,” said Awasthi.
Just the same, Turkish resident Zaynep Gursoy, mother of two girls, said she is also concerned about the location of the tower.
“Worldwide, it is known that mobile towers affect children more than adults, and since we have to live with towers around the city, the least they can do is place the towers as far from the community as possible instead of placing them in the centre of where residents gather,” she said.
A British resident said her family recently bought a villa close to the location of where the tower is planned to be built. “If the tower goes up, we will move. Living that close to any amount of radiation 24 hours a day is not good for you despite what studies may say,” said the mother of four.
She also pointed out that along with health concerns, the placing of a tower in the centre of a green area surrounded by lakes “destroys the beautiful view” in the community.
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Towers follow international protocols: Du
While residents claimed they have never suffered from poor reception when using their phones, Du told Gulf News they have received several requests from the community regarding enhancing mobile coverage in the Meadows 6 area.
“The location of the mobile tower has been chosen carefully to cover coverage gaps while ensuring that minimum number of towers are used, this selection criteria is standard and followed all over the UAE,” said Saleem Al Beloushi, executive vice-president, Infrastructure & Technology, Du.
In regards to public health and safety, Al Beloushi pointed out the network fully complies with the strict regulations for emission guidance by the International Commission and Non-Ionising Radiation (ICNIRP).
“The regulation details the safe levels for exposure of the public. We have a mandate from the UAE TRA (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority) to periodically measure the electric field of the du towers and our emission levels have never exceeded 1.3 per cent of threshold level allowed by the ICNIRP. We can confidently say that our network is fully compliant with the international standards of health and safety in terms of field radiation,” he added.
Claiming to have not received any complaints from residents on the matter, Al Beloushi said the location of the tower is the most optimised position to provide the required coverage associated with the nature of area and population. “A change in the current location would lead to an increase in the number of towers needed to cover the existing mobile coverage gaps,” he explained.
Gulf News also talked to the community’s developer Emaar about the issue, who pointed out that locations for communications towers are chosen based on surveys by the authorities concerned to enhance the network and to meet the improvements requested by users.
“The authorities have underlined that the towers are safe and follow all international protocols on safety. We have raised the concerns of the residents to the authorities for review and response,” said an Emaar Community Management spokesperson.
