WORKSHOP ON RADIATION FROM CELLULAR MOBILE TOWERS : Myths around Electromagnetic Frequency (EMF) Radiation explained

Prakash Kamat

Panaji,July 3 An awareness workshop on "Radiation from Cellular Mobile Towers” held in the city on Saturday tried to dispell misconcenptions and myths around Electromagnetic Frequency (EMF) Radiation and tried to quell unfounded fears of citizens, supported by credible scientific evidence.

The workshop was organised by the Goa unit of Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the chairmanship of  Ashok Kumar Mittal, ITS, Advisor, DoT at Sanchar Bhavan. This workshop was organised as part of DoT’s public advocacy programme. 

Giving an outline of the telecommunication services and highlighting the issues faced by the stakeholders, Mr. Ashok Kumar Mittal said, "Mobile towers are vital for smooth connectivity. However, rising misinformation related to health concerns posed by mobile towers is alarming". 

Dr. T.K Joshi, Advisor to Health Minister, Government of India said "Scientific research is testimonial to the fact that there are no health impacts of these radiations on human health. It is important for citizens to understand today that mobile tower EMF radiation are being strictly monitored and evidence from credible sources have ruled out possibility of health issues emanating from EMF radiations.” 

Mr. S.Sudhakar, Deputy Director General, Department of Telecommunications, Goa spoke on the technical aspects on EMF from Mobile towers and the Government initiatives to expand the Telecom and Internet Facilities to support latest and the advanced new services for the General public of Goa. 

Mobile Services and wireless broadband access are necessary not only for rapid growth and modernization of various sectors of the economy but also for success of key Government initiatives related to education, health, finance, Direct Benefit Transfer, e-KYC and other e-governance services. Telecom towers are critical infrastructure for providing mobile connectivity in all areas, including residential areas. 

The EMF Project of World Health Organization, after two decades of extensive research has corroborated that there is no evidence to support the claim that exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields is harmful to human health. The WHO has studied over 25,000 articles and reached the conclusion that there is no correlation between mobile tower EMF emissions and its hazardous impact on human health. 

In India, the EMF radiation norms are 10 times stricter than the limits prescribed by the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and is recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

Goa unit of DoT has done EMF testing across the State of Goa and all the towers have been found compliant with Indian EMF norms. Citizens need not worry about the adverse effect of mobile tower EMF radiation as they are being strictly monitored and evidence from credible sources have repeatedly ruled out the possibility of any impending health hazards emanating from EMF radiations. 

For towers, emission check : go to http://tarangsanchar.gov.in/EMFportal. Click on the location and find EMF levels. Site also geo-locates location by itself. Get email updates for the tower near you. For mobile radiation check - Type *#07# on mobile to check mobile-specific absorption rate (SAR). The SAR value, which is the radiation emitted by a cellphone, will have to be displayed on mobile handsets. The 1.6 watts/kg averaged over a mass of 1 gram human tissue are only permitted to be manufactured or imported in India for the domestic market.(eom)