The Peshawar High Court recently granted interim relief to a petitioner and has temporarily prohibited setting up of mobile phone base transceiver stations (BTS) near educational institutions, health facilities, residential areas and parks.

Keeping in view mushroom growth of such stations across the country especially in populated areas, the present case is of immense importance as it is related to the health hazards posed by such stations. The petitioner, Mohammad Naeem, has pointed out the effects on health of people living in close proximity to the BTS.

The petitioner has requested the court to issue directions to different respondents, including Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), KP government through secretary environment and heads of different cellular phone companies to avoid installation of BTS and microwave antennas in sensitive areas situated around schools, hospitals, parks and crowded residential areas.

He has also requested the court to issue direction to the relevant respondents to protect the general public from the hazards of environmental pollution due to these BTS by implementing the zoning laws made for environmental protection. He sought direction from the court to the respondents to implement international conventions and policies for the protection of environment from the radiations emitted from the BTS and microwave antennas.

A bench comprising Justice Qaiser Rasheed and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim took up for hearing the case on Oct 18. A senior advocate and member of KP Bar Council Noor Alam Khan appeared for the petitioner and stated that the BTS commonly called as mobile towers were installed on rooftops of plazas and other places across the province, especially in Peshawar. He claimed that these towers were posing health hazards as these emitted microwaves at frequency of 1900MHz (megahertz), which adversely affected every biological organism within one square kilometre.

The counsel claimed that different researches on the subject showed that there might be having several health hazards of microwaves emanating from BTS, including headache, cardiovascular stress, memory loss, miscarriages, cancer, low sperm count, disturbance of the nervous system, etc.

While the cellular phone industry, he said, had been claiming that BTS had no effect on the environment, in fact this industry had started acting like the cigarette industry which despite knowing the adverse impact of smoking on health had been involved in drastic marketing practices.

After preliminary hearing, the bench issued notices to all the respondents and the Attorney General for Pakistan and KP advocate general, seeking their viewpoint on the issue. The bench also ordered not to install any BTS near educational institutions, parks, populated areas and hospitals till disposal of the petition.

Experts believe that in the light of an earlier judgment of the Supreme Court, the present issue relates to “right to life” of a person guaranteed under Article 9 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has over two decades ago declared in a public interest petition that environmental pollution caused by electromagnetic radiations of high voltage transmission lines of electricity posed a serious health hazard to the quality of life of a large number of people and was, therefore, violative of the right to life and human dignity guaranteed by Articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

That case was filed by prominent women rights activist Ms Shehla Zia and some other citizens against construction of a grid station in the greenbelt area of a residential sector of Islamabad on the ground that electromagnetic field of high voltage transmission lines of the grid station posed a serious health hazard to the area residents.

That famous case was reported as Ms Shehla Zia and others versus Wapda (PLD 1994 SC 693). The petitioners had sent a letter to the Supreme Court raising some legal questions. They had asked whether any government agency had a right to endanger the life of citizens by its actions without their consent.

The apex court had examined several experts and with the consent of both the parties appointed a commission to examine the complaint and suggest any alteration which might be economically made in the construction and location of the grid station. The court had further directed that the government should establish an authority whose opinion should be obtained before any new grid station was allowed to be constructed.

Most importantly, the apex court had assumed jurisdiction under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution holding that electromagnetic radiation adversely affected the health of citizens in general impinging upon their right to life and human dignity guaranteed by Article 9 and 14 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court had ruled that a person was entitled to protection from being exposed to hazards of electromagnetic fields caused by installation of power stations. The court had ruled that “life” could not be restricted to vegetative or animal life or mere existence rather also included all amenities and facilities which a person born in a free country was entitled to enjoy with dignity.

It was in the wake of the judgment delivered by the apex court in that case that the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997, was enacted by then government.

Keeping in view the competition among the cellular phone companies in the country, legal experts believe that it would be appropriate that the high court may summon experts in this field to ascertain the health hazards posed by mobile phones BTS. They said that instead of installing the BTS in populated places, the court may ascertain about the safest distance of such stations from hospitals, educational institutions, parks, etc.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2018