Lok Sabha Question No. 1201 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-23
Subject: Mobile Towers and Radition
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: OM BIRLA, JOSE K. MANI, CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1201 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 RD   NOVEMBER, 2016

## MOBILE TOWERS AND RADIATION

†1201. SHRI OM BIRLA: SHRI JOSE K. MANI: SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of the fact that the number of cellular towers is less in comparison to total consumers in the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for making reform in this sector and the new towers installed during the last three years; State-wise;
- (c) whether the Supreme Court of India has recently directed the Department of telecommunication (DoT) to set standards to deal with the harmful radiation emitted by Mobile Towers and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether an expert committee set up by the Ministry of Environment & Forests in 2012 has suggested that electromagnetic radiation by mobile towers be treated as pollutant;
- (e) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  whether  India  has  reduced  the  permissible radiation  limits  for  towers  to  10  times  lowers  than  global  benchmarks  followed  by more than 50 countries; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) & (b) The  installation  of  additional  Base  Transceiver  Stations  (BTSs)  is  a regular and routine exercise carried out by Telecom Service Providers based on the network  traffic  and  customer  requirements.  Licensed  Service  Area  wise  details  of BTSs  installed  during  the  last  three  financial  years  and  current  financial  year  (till 30.09.2016) and total BTSs as on 30.09.2016 are enclosed as Annexure .
- (c) No  such  direction  of  Hon'ble  Supreme  Court  of  India  has  been  received  in Department of Telecommunications.

(d) Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had constituted an InterMinisterial Committee (IMC) consisting of officers from DoT, Indian Council of Medical Research (Ministry of Health), Department of Biotechnology and Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) in 2010 to examine the effect of EMF Radiation from mobile  base  stations  and  mobile  phones.    Inter-Ministerial  Committee  (IMC)  in  its report  examined  the  environmental  and  health  related  concerns  and  indicated  that most of the laboratory studies were unable to find a direct link between exposure to radio frequency radiation and health; and the scientific studies as yet have not been able to confirm a cause and effect relationship between radio frequency radiation and health.

No expert committee was set up by the Ministry of Environment & Forests in 2012  on  electromagnetic  radiation  by  mobile  towers.  However,  the  matter  whether Electromagnetic radiation from Mobile Tower is a 'pollutant' or not, has been agitated in  National Green Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi whereby Hon'ble NGT in its judgment  dated  10.12.2015  has  opined  that  it  has  no  jurisdiction  on  the  issue  of Electromagnetic  Radiation  from  Mobile  Tower.  This  implies  that  Electromagnetic Radiation from Mobile Tower is not a pollutant.

(e) & (f)    Based on the recommendations by an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), as a precautionary measure, the norms for exposure limit for the Radio Frequency Field (Base Station Emissions) have been made 10 times more stringent than the existing limits  prescribed  by  International  Commission  on  Non  Ionizing  Radiation  Protection (ICNIRP)  and  recommended  by  World  Health  Organization  (WHO).  Presently  the limits for EMF radiations from Base Station in India are as below: -

| Frequency Range   | E-Field Strength ( Volt/Meter)   | H-Field Strength (Amp/Meter)   | Power Density (Watt/Sq.Meter)   |
|-------------------|----------------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| 400MHz to 2000MHz | 0.434f ½                         | 0.0011f ½                      | f/2000                          |
| 2GHz to 300GHz    | 19.29                            | 0.05                           | 1                               |

(f = frequency in MHz)

Contd/elipsis3/-

## Annexure

| SN   | LSA Name             | Number of BTSs installed during last three financial years i.e. from 01.04.2013 to 31.03.2016   | Number of BTSs installed during current financial year i.e. from 01.04.2016 to 30.09.2016   | Total Number of BTSs as on 30.09.2016   |
|------|----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 1    | Andhra Pradesh       | 32,331                                                                                          | 13,133                                                                                      | 1,05,716                                |
| 2    | Assam                | 8,486                                                                                           | 3,549                                                                                       | 26,024                                  |
| 3    | Bihar                | 12,620                                                                                          | 4,588                                                                                       | 61,180                                  |
| 4    | Delhi                | 29,652                                                                                          | 7,723                                                                                       | 67,244                                  |
| 5    | Gujarat              | 26,425                                                                                          | 7,443                                                                                       | 79,420                                  |
| 6    | Haryana              | 11,966                                                                                          | 3,278                                                                                       | 32,787                                  |
| 7    | Himachal Pradesh     | 4,168                                                                                           | 1,827                                                                                       | 13,001                                  |
| 8    | Jammu and Kashmir    | 5,701                                                                                           | 1,336                                                                                       | 17,977                                  |
| 9    | Karnataka            | 35,391                                                                                          | 13,016                                                                                      | 1,01,603                                |
| 10   | Kerala               | 20,649                                                                                          | 13,022                                                                                      | 66,180                                  |
| 11   | Kolkata              | 11,737                                                                                          | 4,104                                                                                       | 35,314                                  |
| 12   | Maharashtra          | 33,294                                                                                          | 13,229                                                                                      | 1,10,581                                |
| 13   | Madhya Pradesh       | 26,936                                                                                          | 4,537                                                                                       | 77,748                                  |
| 14   | Mumbai               | 14,056                                                                                          | 2,902                                                                                       | 44,159                                  |
| 15   | North East           | 6,266                                                                                           | 2,515                                                                                       | 16,731                                  |
| 16   | Odisha               | 10,135                                                                                          | 3,188                                                                                       | 34,032                                  |
| 17   | Punjab               | 16,935                                                                                          | 13,045                                                                                      | 56,722                                  |
| 18   | Rajasthan            | 17,021                                                                                          | 8,424                                                                                       | 60,642                                  |
| 19   | Tamil Nadu           | 35,732                                                                                          | 11,244                                                                                      | 1,13,885                                |
| 20   | Uttar Pradesh (East) | 26,846                                                                                          | 9,087                                                                                       | 81,140                                  |
| 21   | Uttar Pradesh (West) | 15,268                                                                                          | 7,475                                                                                       | 60,733                                  |
| 22   | West Bengal          | 10,027                                                                                          | 6,128                                                                                       | 46,130                                  |
|      | Grand Total          | 4,11,642                                                                                        | 1,54,793                                                                                    | 13,08,949                               |

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