Mobile Towers Not Harmful, Radiations Below Safe Limits: DoT

People in general think that the mobile towers are a major health hazard due to the electro-magnetic field (EMF) radiations from them. However, it is a myth as the radiation is an energy emitted from the mobile tower antenna and mobile handset are non-ionising, having very low energy.

The emissions from a mobile tower, which are below the safe limits prescribed by International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and recommended by World Health Organisation (WHO), have no convincing scientific evidence of causing adverse health effects.

Extensive research, based on scientific evidence, studies and reports available, has confirmed time and again that there is no conclusive evidence of the stated danger of EMF radiations from the mobile towers. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) organised an awareness programme through a webinar to bust the myth.

In this webinar, various aspects of EMF radiation was presented by DoT Delhi LSA and health related queries and myth about harmful effect of EMF radiations from mobile towers were clarified by medical expert Dr. Vivek Tandon, Professor of Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

Through its field units, DoT has already taken necessary steps and adopted stricter norms for safety from EMF radiation that are emitted from mobile towers. DoT has adopted the radiation norms which are 10 times stricter than the norms prescribed by ICNIRP and recommended by WHO. All the information on mobile tower radiation is available to the public on DoT's website: https://dot.gov.in/journey-emf.

DoT as well as the telecom service providers (TSPs) take various measures to ensure the EMF compliance of mobile towers or base transceiver stations (BTS) to safe limits. The webinar aimed to clear doubt among various stakeholders and general public regarding misconceptions about the radiations, so that no hindrance is created for development of mobile towers and telecommunication infrastructure to ensure best quality of services and network coverage to one and all.