Department of Telecommunications launches Portal for Information on Mobile Tower Radiation

The Department of Telecommunications has launched a web portal called the ‘Tarang Sanchar’ web portal that will allow tracking of radiation emitted from mobile towers within their locality and check for their compliance with the Electromagnetic field (EMF) emission norms defined by the government. The web portal is aimed at myths and misconceptions about mobile towers and emissions from them.

Background

Recently, the Supreme Court had ordered the deactivation of a mobile tower in Gwalior after hearing the plea of a 42-year-old cancer patient. The order intensified the debate on the impact of radiation from mobile phone towers on health. However, the government has categorically stated that the mobile tower emissions rules in India are 10 times more stringent than the global norms. These are 10 times more stringent than those framed by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

ICNIRP is the global agency that puts out norms on permissible radiation limits for tower firms worldwide.

The ICNIRP pegs permissible tower emission at 4.5 watts/ sq m in popular 900 MHz band. In India, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has lowered it to be 0.45 W/sq m.
India’s is among a handful of countries that have tougher emission standards than the ICNIRP norms. The others are China, Russia, Switzerland, Israel, Italy, Greece, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Belgium, Chile, Bulgaria and Liechtenstein

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017