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(Order of the Court was made by B.PUGALENDHI, J.) These writ petitions are filed by the respective petitioners, in the form of public interest litigations, seeking closure or not to erect the cell phone towers, on the ground that the respondent / service providers http://www.judis.nic.in  WP(MD)Nos.15974 of 2017 etc., either constructed or are constructing the cell phone towers without obtaining any permission from the local authorities and that these towers are responsible for innumerable health hazards to the nearby residents. Since the issue involved in all these writ petitions is one and same, they are taken up together for hearing and are disposed off by way of this common order.

(iv) Base Trans-receiver Stations (BTS Towers) are not considered as buildings or structures for telecommunication and it can either be allowed on a plot or top of a building, only after obtaining permission under the Tamil Nadu Combined Development of Building Rules, 2019.

(v) The areas where the towers are constructed / proposed to construct are within 10 feet from the residential buildings, schools and hospitals, and the radiation from the towers may cause health hazards like cancer, embryo disruption and changes in DNA.

12.3.The telecom towers are the backbone of telecommunication and to provide uninterrupted and quality service, the installation of telecom towers are inevitable. The telecommunication towers are known as Base Trans-receiver Stations (BTS).

12.4.The increased use of mobiles in India has raised the public concern over possible health issues associated with exposure to electromagnetic energy and electromagnetic field radiation and this concern is prevailing all over the world. The World Health Organisation [WHO] is conducting a detailed study in this regard. The International Commission on Non Ionising Radiation Protection [ICNIRP] has issued various guidelines and norms, as recommended by the World Health Organisation. The World Health Organisation, by referring to approximately 25,000 articles published around the world over the past 30 years, on health issues arising out of BTS Towers has concluded that the available evidence does not confirm the existence of any health hazards to the mankind from exposure to low level electromagnetic field. http://www.judis.nic.in  WP(MD)Nos.15974 of 2017 etc., 12.5.The World Health Organisation in its report No.304, issued in May 2006 on electromagnetic field and public health for base station and wireless technologies has concluded that, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak radiation frequency (RF Signals) from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects. The said finding was also reiterated in the year 2011 that no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone towers. In September 2013, with regard to a query, WHO has made an online reply that the status as on date provide no indication that environmental exposure to radio frequency fields such as from base stations increases the risk of cancer or any other disease.

“5. It is not for this Court exercising its extraordinary writ jurisdiction to assess the health hazards of erection and/or commission of high rise Mobile Phone Towers in residential areas or elsewhere. The exercise of study of health hazards, if any, of erection of Cellular Phone Transmission Towers has to be done by the Health Department of the Union of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu and based on such study, measures may have to be taken. This Court neither has the expertise, nor the technical knowledge to asses the effects and/or ill-effects of the radiation, if any, caused by the installation of Cellular Phone Transmission Towers.