DoT launches portal to check cell phone tower radiation

Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha launched a portal to track radiation levels of various cell phone towers and check whether they comply with the norms.

The portal comes amid fierce debate on the effects of cell phone towers on human health. The minister, while launching ‘Tarang Sanchar’, said it will help clear myths and misconceptions about radiation emission of towers.

The portal — developed by the Department of Telecom (DoT) — will allow consumers to check for themselves if towers in a locality comply with the electromagnetic field (EMF) emission norms prescribed by the government.

The debate on radiation from cell phone towers intensified after the Supreme Court order to deactivate a tower in Gwalior following the appeal by a 42-year-old cancer patient.

The government, however, assured that the EMF emission norms in India are 10 times more stringent than global norms. “Global and national studies, including the one done by the WHO, have indicated that radiation from cell phone towers have no ill-effect on human health,” Sinha had said earlier. “Indian radiation norms are more stringent.”

Telecom industry lobby group Cellular Operators Association of India had asked people not to panic since the Gwalior case is an isolated one and the apex court’s order is only interim.