With the Department of Telecommuni-cation’s (DoT) new advisory guideline for state governments about issuance of clearance for installation of mobile towers, it is going to be a relatively free run for the mobile operators installing towers in the city and atop buildings.
Interestingly, the advisory also points out that India has adopted a strict radiation limit, which is one-tenth of the international norm - International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
Medical experts have also maintained that radiation from the mobile towers pose no threat to health or cause cancer, as is commonly believed.
“There are no empirical findings to establish that mobile tower radiation causes cancer. The radiation emitted is just weakly carcinogenic, which is not harmful,” said Dr Nagraj Huilgol, chief of radiation oncology, Nanavati Hospital.
According to the World Health Organisation: “Considering the research results collected till date and the very low exposure levels, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak radio frequency signals from base stations and wireless networks can cause adverse health effects.”
“The remote controls in our houses too have radiation; most electrical appliances emit a certain amount of radiation, but it’s very low and thus not harmful. Radiation from mobile towers has also been found safe internationally and if the DoT levels of radiation limits are true, then the fear of health hazards from radiation of mobile towers is merely hysteria. I recall a similar fear psychosis when high-tension cables had come in. There has to be scientific evidence and should be mechanistically explained to even establish these fears,” elaborated Dr Huilgol.
Though there have been raging debates about the safety and health hazards of mobile towers, there has been no study in India regarding this issue. Activists have also been quoting stray studies from world over to prove their point against these mobile towers.
Epidemiologist at Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) Dr Rajendra Dikshit said, “There have been studies in a few countries, but nothing confirms the certainty of cancer from mobile towers. Additiona-lly, there has been no study in India on health hazards vis-a-vis mobile towers. However, we have just started one, which will be the first ever and maybe lead to some answers.”