This Article is From Apr 08, 2016

Misinformed NGO Campaigns About Harm From Mobile Towers: Telecom Minister

Misinformed NGO Campaigns About Harm From Mobile Towers: Telecom Minister

Mr Prasad said that the complaints against call drops and campaign against towers cannot go hand-in-hand.

New Delhi: Questioning the NGO campaigns against mobile towers Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said that developed nations such as US or China has never faced such an issue. He said that people have "misplaced concerns" about radiation from mobile towers which can jeopardise India's path to seamless mobility.

"This question troubles me a lot. Why this is not an issue in the US, Europe or China? Why some of the biggest NGOs have taken this issue in India, why should you presume," Mr Prasad said at
a conference on 'Electromagnetic Emissions in Mobile Telephony and its Health Impact' at IIT-Delhi.

Citing WHO reports, he said, there is no concrete evidence of any harmful effect from such radiations as of now.

"When I became the minister...I saw all the WHO reports and then I found that as of now there is no evidence to suggest that radiation effects are there... I see 30,000 samples of WHO clearly saying there is no harmful effect, repeatedly over the years," Mr Prasad said.

In India, the government has fixed the EMF radiation limit which is 10 per cent stricter than the international guidelines and whenever there is any violation, a fine is imposed.

"Till now we have imposed about Rs 10 crore as fine on those whose towers were found to be emitting radiations beyond the permissible limits," he said.

Mr Prasad said that the complaints against call drops and campaign against towers cannot go hand-in-hand. "If there is a technology that (suggests) without towers or BTS, mobile signals can go, tell me," he added.

Kenneth R Foster of the University of Pennsylvania, USA said: "Radio frequency fields are among the most highly researched potential hazards. There are thousands of papers in literature and health agencies have reviewed all of them many times. Virtually all agree that there are no demonstrated hazards from exposure to RF energy at levels below international (and Indian) limits."  

The conference was jointly organised by IIT-D and Maulana Azad Medical College, in association with Health Environment Foundation, New Delhi.
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