The radiation emission from mobile towers are not a danger, and the radiation emission is lower than the prescribed limit. The Department of Telecommunications and Ministry of Communications announced the above conclusion after conducting an awareness program and surprise inspection on mobile tower radiation emission.
On January 24, 2017, Department of Telecommunications and the Ministry of Communications held an outreach program on Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Emissions and Mobile Towers. Shri J.S. Deepak, Secretary, DoT, Shri Vinod Kumar Pipersenia, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Assam, Smt. Shakuntala Gamlin, Chief Secretary & Principal Secretary, Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh are the prominent speakers and guest in the event.
Shri J.S. Deepak, Secretary, DoT, delivered the inaugural speech, in which he said,” We are absolutely committed to protecting the health of our citizens, the standards for Electromagnetic Radiation limit that DoT has prescribed for emission from mobile towers are ten times stricter than the international standards prescribed by ICNIRP and recommended by WHO. Indian Government has taken adequate steps to ensure that Telecommunications Service Providers (TSPs) strictly adhere to these norms.”
An expert panel was also organized to speak on the topic. It includes senior members of DoT, medical expert, and a professor from IIT Bombay. All of them expressed their opinions on Electromagnetic Field myths. They also said there is no correlation between the health diseases and mobile tower radiation emission.
Dr. R.M. Chaturvedi, DDG-CS, DoT said, “Based on 30 years of research and 25,000 studies conducted around the world, there is no evidence to conclude that exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields is harmful to human health.”
The fact that many courts across India have dismissed petitions related to the effects of mobile tower radiations are also notified of this awareness program.
Shri Ram Narain, Senior DDG, Telecom Enforcement Resource & Monitoring (TERM) unit, said, “A penalty of Rs. 10 lakh per incidence is imposed in case any BTS site is found to violate the prescribed EMF norms. If the violation persists, sites can also be closed down.”
On January 25th, 2017, an inspection test team formed with telecom experts and doctors & they measured the Electro Magnetic Frequency Emissions from Mobile Towers in Guwahati. They tested telecom towers at Ashok Path, Belotla, High School, Hatigaon, and Hatigaon Road. The expert team measured the EMF emission levels in all the three sites.
| Location | Radiation Level | Prescribed Limit | Actual Reading as %age of Prescribed Limit | |
| Ashok Path, Beltola | 22.95 mwpsm | 450 mwpsm | 5.1% | |
| High School, Hatigaon | 13.13 mwpsm | 450 mwpsm | 2.91% | |
| Hatigaon Road | 12.64 mwpsm | 450 mwpsm | 2.80% | |
| AVERAGE | 3.60% | |||
| (*numbers as per tests by TERM Cell) | ||||
The radiation emission at Ashok Path, Beltola was 22.95 milliwatts per Sq.meter, High School, Hatigaon was 13.13milliwatts per sq.meter, Hatigaon Road was 12.64 milliwatts per sq.meter.
The prescribed limit for radiation emission in India is 450 milliwatts per sq.meter. Compared to the specified limit, the radiation emission levels in the test are too small to be considered as a danger.
The Ashok Path, Beltola emitted only 5.1% of the prescribed limit, which is the highest of the three tests measurement. The tower at High School, Hatigaon emitted 2.91% of the specified limit while the tower at Hatigaon Road emitted 2.80% of the prescribed limit. The average of the three comes around 3.60% of radiation emission of the total prescribed limit for radiation emission.
The conclusion arrived by the expert team after the awareness program and surprise inspection was Electro Magnetic Frequency emissions are actually under control and, the present emitting rate is far too less than the prescribed limit. Also, as per the various studies conducted by different organizations including World Health Organization (WHO), EMF emissions are not hazardous to the human health. The DoT also keen on clearing the doubts and busting the myths about mobile towers which affect the seamless cell phone connectivity across the nation.
